Normative data and factorial structure of the Turkish version of the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (Turkish BPQ)

Objective: Borderline personality disorder is a psychiatric condition, which is characterized by unstable interpersonal relationships, fear of abandonment, difficulties in regulating emotions, feeling of emptiness, chronic dysphoria and depression, and impulsivity and increased risktaking behaviors. In this present study, we aimed to translate and establish psychometric properties and factorial validity of the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ) in a representative Turkish university students sample and obtain normative data for future epidemiological and clinical studies in Turkey.

Methods: Participants were 306 (201 females, 105 males) college students at the Hasan Kalyoncu University in Gaziantep, Turkey. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hasan Kalyoncu University. Sociodemographic information of the participants was collected and Turkish BEST, Turkish BPQ, BDI, PBQ, and State-Trait Anxiety scales were administered. All variables were screened for the accuracy of data entry, missing values, and homoscedasticity using SPSS version 23 for Windows.

Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the Turkish BPQ were ranging from 0.46 to 0.81. The lowest alpha coefficient was observed for the Abandonment (0.46). For the whole scale, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be 0.89. The test–retest (at after 1 month) correlation coefficients for Impulsivity, Affective Instability, Abandonment, Relationships, SelfImage, Suicide/Self-Mutilation, Emptiness, Intense Anger, and Quasi-Psychotic States were found to be 0.50, 0.77, 0.40, 0.68, 0.72, 0.48, 0.73, 0.74, and 0.62, respectively. A positive and statistically significant correlation was found between the Turkish BPQ and BEST (r = 0.337, p < .01), BDI (r = 0.375, p < .01), PBQ (r = 0. 322, r < 0.01), State Anxiety (r = 0.299, p < .01), and Trait Anxiety (r = 0.306, p < .01) scales. Principal axis factor analyzes with Promax rotation were performed and two-factor solution that accounted for 50.03% of the variance observed.

Conclusions: Our results suggested that Turkish BPQ was a valid and reliable tool with a robust factorial structure to use in clinical population in Turkey