Translation, adaptation, and preliminary validation of the Clinical Interview for Borderline Personality Disorder for Adolescents (CI-BOR-A) to English

Objective Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental condition whose features may emerge early in adolescence and follow heterogeneous developmental trajectories. Current diagnostic practices employ both categorical and dimensional approaches to assess personality functioning. The Clinical Interview for Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents (CI-BOR-A) is a hybrid semi-structured interview that integrates both models of personality disorders as described in the DSM-5-TR. It comprises 16 items, decision tables, and an appendix dedicated to the detailed exploration of self-harm and suicidal ideation. This study aimed to translate, adapt, and cross-validate the CI-BOR-A into English.Method The instrument underwent a thorough translation and back-translation process until the research team reached consensus on a prefinal English version. Subsequently, six experts in adolescent BPD (mean of years of experience: 13) evaluated the English version for clarity and accuracy.Results The expert panel deemed the interview clear, relevant, and conceptually equivalent to the original Portuguese version.Conclusion The English version of the CI-BOR-A demonstrates linguistic and conceptual equivalence with the original instrument and represents an important step toward its use in English-speaking clinical and research settings. Nevertheless, further studies are required to establish its psychometric properties and clinical utility.