title: Temperamental differences between bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: some implications for their diagnostic validity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relationship between borderline personality disorder (BPD), bipolar disorder (BD), and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) requires further elucidation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-four adult psychiatric in- and out-patients, each of them having received one of these diagnoses on clinical assessment, were interviewed and compared in terms of diagnostic overlap, age and sex distribution, comorbid substance, anxiety and eating disorders, and affective temperament.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Diagnostic overlap within the three disorders was 54%. Comorbidity patterns and gender ratio did not differ. The disorders showed very similar levels of cyclothymia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sample size was small and only a limited number of validators were tested.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The similar extent of cyclothymic temperament suggests mood lability as a common denominator of BPD, BD, and ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: Dominique.Eich@puk.ch.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eich
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gamma
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Malti
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vogt Wehrli
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liebrenz
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seifritz
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric University Hospital, Research Department, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Modestin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003527:Cyclothymic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013694:Temperament; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ADHD; Borderline; Diagnostic validity; Temperament; bipolar