Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) results in severe impairment and distress and is linked to various co-morbid conditions. Self-injurious behavior (SIB) presents therapeutic challenges in the treatment of individuals with BPD.
Objectives: to assess the socio-demographic profile of individuals with BPD associated with self-injurious behavior and to explore the potential biological abnormalities that might characterize these patients in electroencephalogram (EEG) and evoked potential P300.
Patients and methods: A comparative case-control study was conducted on 40 adults (≥18 years) diagnosed with BPD with a history of self-harm and 20 healthy controls. Participants were assessed using the Borderline Personality Features Scale (BPFS) and the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI), along with resting EEG and P300 measurements.
Results: No significant socio-demographic differences were found between the groups, except for impaired occupational functioning in BPD patients (P = 0.003). These patients exhibited frontal theta activity, significantly delayed P300 latency (P<0.001), and reduced P300 amplitude (P<0.001). A positive correlation was observed between P300 tone latency and both age (P= 0.873) and DSHI scores (P = 0.857), as well as between P300 tone amplitude and the age of self-harm onset (P = 0.211). Similarly, P300 speech latency correlated positively with age (P = 0.582), BPFS (P = 0.015) and DSHI scores (P = 0.246), and self-harm duration (P = 0.483), while P300 speech amplitude was positively associated with the age of self-harm onset (P = 0.111).
Conclusion: No specific socio-demographic criteria can be specified for BPD with SIB, but specific biological aberrations can be detected.