Borderline personality disorder and mental healthcare service use among adolescents

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is believed to be frequent among adolescents. While several prospective studies have assessed the use of mental health services among adults who suffer from BPD, few studies have provided adolescent data. This paper presents findings from the first assessment point of the European Research Network on Borderline Personality Disorder (EURNET BPD) study. In this study, we described treatment utilization of 85 adolescents with BPD (M = 16.5 years old). In line with adult findings, patients with BPD reported greater mental healthcare service use (outpatient: 98%; inpatient: 79%) compared to controls. Phenothiazine, a sedative neuroleptic, was the most frequently prescribed treatment. 47% of patients received psychotherapy; one-third of these patients received psychodynamic therapy. For all psychopathological variables, patients who received psychotherapy did not differ from those who did not receive psychotherapy; however, psychotherapy was more frequent among females. These data suggest that psychotherapy may be difficult to access for adolescents suffering from BPD, especially males.