Concurrent Validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory Borderline Scales in Patients Seeking Dialectical Behavior Therapy

The purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 1991 Morey, L. C. 1991. The Personality Assessment Inventory professional manual Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. [Google Scholar]) Borderline full scale (BOR) and subscales in the assessment of patients being evaluated for dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993 Linehan, M. M. 1993. Cognitive behavioral therapy of borderline personality disorder New York: Guilford. [Google Scholar]). We administered 67 patients both the PAI and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) Structured Clinical Interview for Axis II disorders (SCID-II; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, Williams, & Benjamin, 1997 First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., Williams, J. B. W. and Benjamin, L. S. 1997. Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis II personality disorders (SCID-II) Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. [Google Scholar]). Point biserial correlations showed a significant relationship between the presence of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and scores on the BOR and Schizophrenia (SCZ) scales. A regression analysis showed that among the BOR subscales, those measuring identity disturbance, self-harming behavior, and negative relationships were significantly related to the total number of SCID-II BPD criteria. Diagnostic efficiency statistics between the BOR scale and the number of SCID-II BPD criteria indicated that a T score cutoff of 65 optimally differentiates patients who do and do not meet criteria for BPD. The relationship between BOR and SCID-II BPD demonstrates the concurrent validity of the PAI and shows its usefulness in this setting