title: [Emotional and impulsive dimensions in bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have shown that patients with borderline personality disorder are often misdiagnosed to have bipolar disorder and conversely. Indeed, a number of characteristics common to both disorders could explain this problem: emotional instability as well as impulsivity represent confounding factors and contribute to the risk of misdiagnosis. However, it appears that these characteristics manifest themselves in different ways according to the pathology. The aim of the study is to show differences between affective lability, emotional intensity and impulsivity dimensions. The clinical aim is to refine bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder diagnosis, to improve psychological care for these patients in the long-term.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the emotional and impulsive dimensions in two groups of patients: a group of 21 patients with bipolar disorder and a group of 19 patients with borderline personality disorder. Tools: ALS, a self-report questionnaire to evaluate affective lability, AIM, a self-report questionnaire to see affective intensity, and UPPS, a self-report questionnaire to measure impulsivity according to several dimensions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicate that borderline patients scored significantly higher than bipolar patients at the ALS and AIM scales. Regarding the UPPS, borderline patients scored significantly higher than bipolar patients for the dimensions "lack of premeditation" and "lack of perseverance"; however, bipolar patients had significantly higher scores than borderline patients for the dimension "negative emergency".
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that bipolar disorder and borderline personality can be differentiated thanks to emotional dimensions as well as different dimensions of impulsivity: borderline patients appear to have an affective lability and intensity more important than bipolar patients; it also appears that impulsivity manifests itself differently according to the disorder.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de psychologie clinique évaluation clinique des troubles psychopathologiques et des psychothérapies (EVACLIPSY), université Paris Ouest, 92000 Nanterre-La-Défense, France. Electronic address: leblanc-amelie@hotmail.fr.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leblanc
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de psychologie clinique évaluation clinique des troubles psychopathologiques et des psychothérapies (EVACLIPSY), université Paris Ouest, 92000 Nanterre-La-Défense, France; Centre hospitalier Fernand-Widal, AP-HP, 75010 Paris, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jarroir
authors.affiliation: Centre hospitalier Fernand-Widal, AP-HP, 75010 Paris, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vorspan
authors.affiliation: Centre hospitalier Fernand-Widal, AP-HP, 75010 Paris, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bellivier
authors.affiliation: Université des Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leveillee
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de psychologie clinique évaluation clinique des troubles psychopathologiques et des psychothérapies (EVACLIPSY), université Paris Ouest, 92000 Nanterre-La-Défense, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Affective intensity; Affective lability; Bipolar disorder; Borderline personality disorder; Impulsivity; Impulsivité; Intensité affective; Labilité affective; Trouble bipolaire; Trouble de la personnalité borderline