A rorschach exploration of the DSM-IV borderline personality disorder

✍ Scribed by Mark A. Blais; Mark J. Hilsenroth; J. Christopher Fowler; Cathy A. Conboy

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 79 KB
• Volume: 55
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9762
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199905)55:5<563::aid-jclp4>3.0.co;2-7

✦ Synopsis

Rorschach data has been useful in identifying the DSM Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and has potential for improving our understanding of this disorder. Recently, the DSM-IV BPD has been shown to be composed of 3 primary or core factors: Factor I-unstable self-other images. Factor II-deficits in affect and thought modulation, and Factor III-impulsive self-damaging actions. In a sample of outpatients with personality disorders. we explored the relationships among 6 psychoanalytically derived Rorschach scales (primitive aggression, oral dependency, self-other differentiation, splitting, devaluation, and projective identification), and the core BPD features. Significant correlations were found between 5 of the Rorschach variables and BPD total scores. Correlations between these 5 variables and the BPD core features showed that oral dependency needs were negatively associated with all 3 BPD core features, whereas the defenses of devaluation and splitting were positively associated with these core features. The clinical implications of these findings are reviewed.