title: The short version of the Borderline Symptom List (BSL-23): development and initial data on psychometric properties.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The full version of the Borderline Symptom List (BSL; for clarification now labeled BSL-95) is a self-rating instrument for specific assessment of borderline-typical symptomatology. The BSL-95 items are based on criteria of the DSM-IV, the revised version of the Diagnostic Interview for Borderline Personality Disorder, and the opinions of both clinical experts and borderline patients. The BSL-95 includes 95 items. In order to reduce patient burden and assessment time, a short version with 23 items (BSL-23) was developed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The development of the BSL-23 was based on a sample of 379 borderline patients, considering the items from the BSL-95 that had the highest levels of sensitivity to change and the highest ability to discriminate borderline patients from other patient groups. In a second step, the psychometric properties of the BSL-23 were investigated and compared with the psychometric properties of the BSL-95 in 5 different samples, including a total of 659 borderline patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all of the samples, a high correlation of the sum score was found between the BSL-23 and the BSL-95 (range: 0.958-0.963). The internal consistency was high for both versions (BSL-23/Cronbach's alpha: 0.935-0.969; BSL-95/Cronbach's alpha: 0.977-0.978). Both BSL-23 and BSL-95 clearly discriminated borderline personality disorder patients from patients with an axis I diagnosis (mean effect sizes were 1.13 and 0.96 for the BSL-23 and BSL-95, respectively). In addition, comparisons before and after 3 months of dialectical behavior therapy revealed a numerically larger effect size for the BSL-23 (d = 0.47) compared to the BSL-95 (d = 0.38).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that the BSL-23 is an efficient and convenient self-rating instrument that displays good psychometric properties comparable to those of the BSL-95. The BSL-23 also demonstrated sensitivity to the effects of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany. martin.bohus@zi-mannheim.de
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bohus
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kleindienst
authors.forename: Matthias F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Limberger
authors.forename: Rolf-Dieter
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Stieglitz
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domsalla
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Steil
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Philipsen
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult