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Journal of Personality Disorders, 26(4), 628–640, 2012
© 2012 The Guilford Press
PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF THE
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
SEVERITY INDEX—IV—ADOLESCENT
VERSION AND PARENT VERSION
H. Marieke Schuppert, MD, Josephine Bloo, PhD,
Ruud B. Minderaa, PhD, Paul M. G. Emmelkamp, PhD,
and Maaike H. Nauta, PhD
The Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index–IV–adolescent and
parent versions (BPDSI-IV-ado/p) are DSM-IV based semi-structured
interviews for the assessment of the severity of symptoms of borderline
personality disorder (BPD) in adolescents. The present study evaluates
the psychometric properties of the BPDSI-IV-ado/p. The interviews
were administered to 122 adolescents, aged 14–19 years and their par-
ents/caretakers who were referred to mental health centres for emotion
regulation problems, and to 45 healthy controls. The interrater reliabil-
ity and internal consistency of all nine subscales (following the nine
BPD symptoms in DSM-IV) proved to be good to excellent. Discrimi-
nant, concurrent, and construct validity were satisfactory. Cut-off
scores that optimize sensitivity and specificity were derived. Informant
agreement between adolescents and parents/caretakers was modest.
The results of this study suggest that the BPDSI-IV adolescent and par-
ent versions are valid and reliable instruments for the assessment of
BPD symptom severity in adolescents.
Assessment and treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in ad-
olescence have long been neglected, and many health professionals are
hesitant in diagnosing BPD prior to age 18 (Crick, Murray-Close, & Woods,
2005). However, there is a growing body of evidence for a reliable and valid
diagnosis of BPD in adolescence (Chanen, Jovev, et al., 2008; Johnson et
al., 1999; Stepp, Pilkonis, Hipwell, Loeber, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 2010;
Westen, Shedler, Durrett, Glass, & Martens, 2003). There is a need for a
This article was accepted under the editorship of Paul S. Links.
From University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands (H. M. S., R. B. M., M. H. N.);
University of Maastricht, the Netherlands (J. B.); and University of Amsterdam, the Nether-
lands (P. M. G. E.).
We acknowledge Marianne Hof, Evelien Miedema, Iris Rooke, Marjolein Schutte-Koning, and
Annelies Wolters for their assistance in data collection. We thank all adolescents and parents
who participated in the study. The study has been supported by ZonMW, the Netherlands
organization for health research and development. Dutch Trial Register: NTR 984.
Address correspondence to Marieke Schuppert, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Accare,
UCKJP, Postbox 660, 9700 AR Groningen, The Netherlands; E-mail: m.schuppert@accare.nl