Exploring the Construct of Borderline Personality Disorder among Chinese Female Psychiatric Patients in China

Professor Freedom Y. K. LEUNG
Ph.D., Concordia University
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dr. Lawrence O. C. KHOO
Ph.D., Harvard University
Department of Economics and Finance,
City University of Hong Kong

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by marked mood and impulse dysregulation, intense and stormy interpersonal relationship pattern, and a chaotic sense of self. It is generally considered as one of the most disturbed psychiatric disorders. Both DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) and the ICD-10-R (WHO, 1993) include this diagnostic category in their nomenclature. The Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders–3 (CCMD-3), however, does not have the BPD diagnosis. As a result, few clinicians and researchers in China are familiar with the BPD construct, and little research has been conducted on this disorder. China has a population of about 1.3 billion people. The prevalence of BPD has been estimated to be at 1-2% of the general population in the West. This prevalence figure, if generalizable to China, suggests that there could be up 13 to 26 million Chinese suffering from BPD without ever been properly diagnosed and treated. In this seminar, I will discuss the major diagnostic and conceptual issues concerning this disorder. Preliminary findings from a recent study on the construct validity of BPD among Chinese female psychiatric patients in China will also be presented. Results support the generalizability of the BPD construct to Chinese female psychiatric patients in China. Implications of these findings for the Chinese mental disorders classification system will be discussed.