The authors sought to identify diagnostic criteria that are relatively
specific to borderline personality disorder in severely ill adolescent
inpatients and that may predict a stable borderline personality disorder
during this turbulent time. Twenty-one adolescent inpatients with
borderline personality disorder were contacted 2 years after the index
hospitalization (baseline). Seven of these patients met criteria for
borderline personality disorder at follow-up. The ability of baseline
criteria for borderline personality to predict the diagnosis of borderline
personality disorder at follow-up was determined. Criteria for borderline
personality disorder were sensitive for the stable disorder but not very
specific. Without follow-up data, the diagnostic significance of symptoms
of borderline personality disorder in adolescents appears uncertain.
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