Associations Between Generalist Knowledge of Borderline Personality Disorder and Clinician Factors and Attitudes

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is highly stigmatized. It is associated with negative clinician attitudes, which have been shown to improve with training. This study presents data collected at formal trainings in good psychiatric management (GPM) of BPD at several sites in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Sweden. Three hundred twenty seven clinical professionals completed a 48-question true/false quiz testing knowledge of GPM, with a small subset (N = 33) that also completed a 13-item assessment of attitudes about BPD. Knowledge of GPM did not differ between course participants of different disciplines (e.g., psychiatry, psychology, and social work) but did differ according to level of GPM training and experience practicing GPM. Clinicians with experience working in specialty treatment programs focused on BPD scored higher than clinicians without this type of experience, but the scores of these more generalist clinicians were lower only by a few points. Using linear regression, we analyzed the association between GPM knowledge and negative clinician attitudes toward care of people with BPD. Greater knowledge of GPM was associated with decreased ratings of dislike of BPD patients, avoidance of treating them, and hopelessness about their prognosis.