Reasons for living in suicidal adolescents with borderline personality disorder

Introduction: Adolescent suicide is a major public health problem, especially among those with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The study of protective factors such as the reasons for living is innovative about this question. Our objective was to analyze the characteristics in the development of reasons for living in suicidal adolescents with BPD, compared with a sample without BPD. Methods: Adolescent inpatients, aged 13 to 17 years, admitted after suicide attempts, were consecutively included and evaluated within ten days, using the abbreviated version of the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines–Revised, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children–Present and Lifetime Version supported by a team consensus best-estimate method for the primary diagnosis and the inclusion in the BPD group, the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale and the Reasons For Living inventory for Adolescents. Results: In total, 223 adolescents were included, with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.22 and an average age of 14.8 years. The TPL group scored significantly lower than the non-TPL group on the RFL-A total and each of the subscale scores. The highest difference was observed on the subscales “suicide-related concern” and “self-acceptance”. Discussion: Our study has highlighted the disturbances in the development of reasons for living in BPD patients, especially on the suicide-related concern and self-acceptance dimensions. Conclusion: Our observations reinforce the current psychopathological conceptions of BPD and they open interesting perspectives for the management of adolescents with BPD and the prevention of suicidal behaviors.