Borderline personality organization in violent offenders: correlations of identity diffusion and primitive defense mechanisms with antisocial features, neuroticism, and interpersonal problems.

Abstract

Although theoretical assumptions and empirical evidence suggest an association between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial behavior or even antisocial personality disorder (APD), there is no study relating the psychodynamic aspects of BPD to antisocial behavior. In this study, the authors tested the correlation between the structural criteria of borderline personality organization (BPO)--that is, identity diffusion, primitive defense mechanisms, and reality testing--and antisocial features, neuroticism, and interpersonal problems. A sample of imprisoned violent offenders (N = 91) was studied using the Antisocial Personality Questionnaire (APQ), the Borderline Personality Inventory (BPI), the Neo-Five-Factor-Inventory (Neo-FFI), and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). Significant correlations were predicted and found between the BPI scales of identity diffusion, primitive defense mechanisms, impaired reality testing, and fear of closeness and antisocial features, neuroticism, agreeableness, and interpersonal problems. The results are consistent with both object relations theory and attachment theory.