Comparison of symptoms and treatments of adults and adolescents with borderline personality disorder.

The purpose of this paper was to characterize adolescent borderline personality disorder (BPD) and compare it to adult BPD. A retrospective chart review of 20 adolescent and 20 adult BPD patients was conducted. The retrieved data included demographics, history features, symptoms, observations made during hospitalization and treatments. There were many similarities between the two groups. The differences included the number of report pages during hospitalization (p<0.05), of current self-mutilation (p=0.051), of past and present obsessive-compulsive symptoms (p=0.02 and p=0.03) and of past escapes (p=0.006). Adults had more alcohol abuse (p=0.02). There was a correlation between the number of anti-psychotic drug trials and the length of hospitalization among adolescents, and a correlation between the number of antidepressant and anxiolytic drug trials and the length of hospitalization among adults. Our findings support the general similarity of BPD between adolescents and adults. The differences in pharmacotherapy and several clinical observations warrant further study.