Preliminary Investigation of the Psychometric Properties of the Parent Version of the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-P).

There is growing evidence that features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) emerge in childhood and present long-term risk for the development of BPD. Thus, valid and reliable assessments of BPD features in childhood are needed. This study examined the psychometric properties of the parent version of the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-P) in a large, representative sample (N = 1,050; 51.5% male; Mage = 8.42, SD = 2.31; Agerange = 5 to 12 years). The factor structure of the BPFS-P was examined, and measurement invariance was tested across child age and sex as well as caregiver informant sex. Additionally, the unique contribution of the identified factors of the BPFS-P to overall impairment and need for treatment beyond co-occurring dimensions of additional psychopathology was examined. A one factor structure was identified, which demonstrated measurement invariance across child sex and age as well as caregiver informant sex. BPD features measured with the BPFS-P contributed unique variance to explaining overall impairment and need for treatment. These findings point to the potential of the BPFS-P to break new ground in identifying youth at risk for BPD.

Behavioral Treatment for the Social-Emotional Difficulties of Preadolescent and Adolescent Girls with ADHD.

Girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at high risk for peer difficulties that often persist into adolescence and adulthood and portend risk for additional difficulties, such as depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder. However, very little research has examined interventions that address the widespread peer difficulties of girls with ADHD. This paper describes two open trials of behavior therapy aimed at addressing their social-emotional difficulties. The first trial includes 33 preadolescent girls (ages 7-11) with ADHD enrolled in an eight-week treatment and the second trial includes 22 adolescent girls (ages 12-16) with ADHD enrolled in a 12-week treatment. Measures of treatment feasibility and acceptability and measures of social functioning and psychopathology were collected in both trials. High levels of treatment feasibility and acceptability were reported in both the preadolescent and adolescent trial. In addition, improvements were reported in areas of social functioning and reductions in psychopathology, although the magnitude and specific areas of improvement differed somewhat in the preadolescent versus adolescent group. These preliminary findings provide a first step towards addressing the widespread social-emotional difficulties of girls with ADHD and offer insight into continuing efforts to address their treatment needs.