Open AccessSexual Orientation and Gender of Intimate Relationship Partners Among Adolescents With BPD and Psychiatrically Healthy Adolescents
Author(s) -
Mary C. Zanarini,
Laura R Magni,
Christina M. Temes,
Katherine E. Hein,
Blaise Aguirre,
Marianne Goodman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of personality disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.23
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1943-2763
pISSN - 0885-579X
DOI - 10.1521/pedi_2020_34_470
Subject(s) - sexual orientation , psychology , borderline personality disorder , lesbian , clinical psychology , interpersonal relationship , developmental psychology , orientation (vector space) , interpersonal communication , homosexuality , social psychology , geometry , mathematics , psychoanalysis
The first aim of this study was to describe reported sexual orientation in a group of adolescents diagnosed with borderline personality disorder compared to a group of psychiatrically healthy adolescents. The second purpose was to compare data on dating and gender of dating partners in the same two groups. Two semistructured interviews, which assessed sexual orientation, dating history, and gender of dating partners, were administered to 104 borderline adolescents and 60 psychiatrically healthy comparison subjects. Borderline adolescents were significantly more likely than comparison subjects to report having a gay/lesbian/bisexual orientation. They also were significantly more likely to date and to report dating a same-gender partner or same- and other-gender partners than comparison subjects. The results of this study suggest that same-gender attraction and/or intimate relationships may be an important interpersonal issue for approximately one-third of adolescents with BPD.