Is the Prejudice Towards People With Borderline Personality Disorder Model Reflective of Lived Experience?

Abstract

The high levels of stigma faced by people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is well recognized but inconsistently operationalized within the literature through the use of multiple instruments that measure different prejudicial attitudes. The Prejudice towards People with Borderline Personality Disorder (PPBPD) framework was developed to provide a comprehensive model and psychometrically sound scale for measuring prejudice. The four PPBPD subscales encompass the different prejudicial attitudes measured across other existing instruments, namely Fear/Avoidance, Malevolence, Authoritarianism, and Unpredictability. The PPBPD framework, however, was developed in isolation of the lived experience. To address this, we conducted online interviews with 13 Australians with BPD to investigate if the PPBPD's four-factor model reflects the attitudes they have experienced. The interviews discussed participants' experiences of support and prejudice and their impacts, the PPBPD model, and help-seeking. Participants felt the model was an accurate representation of the prejudice they had experienced, and all participants identified experiences that related to each of the four dimensions. Important sources and impacts of each dimension of prejudice were also identified. The results suggest that the PPBPD model and scale are useful tools for measuring and understanding prejudice towards people with BPD and contextualizing it within lived experiences. Consulting people who have BPD is a key step in providing evidence for the usefulness of the PPBPD model and scale. Using the PPBPD model can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the attitudes underlying the stigma faced by people with BPD and support the development of appropriate stigma reduction interventions.