Gender-related differential item functioning in DSM-IV/DSM-5-III (alternative model) diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder.

A number of studies have evaluated the possibility of bias in the diagnostic criteria in borderline personality disorder as an explanation of gender differences in prevalence. Previous studies have used both regression and latent trait approaches but the results have been inconsistent. The current study extended prior investigations in testing differential function of Borderline diagnostic criteria using both regression and latent-trait methods in the same sample, examining both Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV ) and DSM-5 alternative model criteria for borderline personality. Data were obtained from a national sample of 337 clinicians providing diagnostic information on 1 of their target patients. Chronic feelings of emptiness was the only criterion that demonstrated consistent evidence of potential differential functioning across methods and diagnostic models. Implications of these results for the conceptualization of borderline personality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record