Borderline personality disorders (BPD) is a personality disorder where patients express significant emotional distress and impairment of occupational functioning and interpersonal relationships. This condition is frequently comorbid with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), and the two conditions are associated with externalized aggression and violence (González et al., 2016). Individuals with these types of disorders have a pervasive pattern of various maladaptive coping behaviors, including self-injurious behaviors, chaotic interpersonal relationships, as well as unstable mood and self-image disturbances. This indicates that violence is a severe problem among individuals with these conditions. Although challenging, mental health nurses struggle to help these individuals reduce anger, aggression, and violence, which often leads to self-harm or harm to others.
While the exact prevalence of BPD is unclear, approximately 15-20% of psychiatric patients have BPD (Ten Have et al., 2016). Additionally, approximately 1.5-2% of community members and 6% of the primary care population in the United States have BPD. These high statistics indicate an increased prevalence of violence within society. This translates to over four million patients who live with the condition. Individuals with BPD or ASPD have intense feelings of anger, which increases the likelihood of externalized physical aggression and violence. Approximately 73% of patients with BPD engage in violence within one year (Ten Have et al., 2016).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The study by Kolla et al. (2017) seeks to pinpoint personality traits significant to externalized aggression in BPD and ASPD. By utilizing the five-factor model (FFM) of personality, the researchers sought to establish whether FFM personality traits denoted by neuroticism and agreeableness, as they relate to BPD and ASPD are associated with self-reported physical aggression. The study also aimed at identifying whether these FFM personality traits are associated with violent convictions among ASPD subjects since these subjects often end up being convicted due to their actions. By conducting an investigational study among ASPD subjects, BPD subjects, and healthy subjects, the researchers established that trait anger/hostility predicted physical aggression among ASPD and BPD subjects, and besides, predicted the number of violent convictions among ASPD subjects.
The information in the article by Kolla et al. (2017) is relevant in mental nursing practice and can assess a patient’s risk of violence. The study emphasizes the importance of self-reported personality measures, which can be explicitly used to identify the specific needs of a patient with ASPD or BPD. As a mental health nurse, I can use the information acquired from this study to conduct violence prediction research, which is vital in psychiatric nursing.
A significant strength of the article by Kolla et al. (2017) is its use of a control sample, which helps the researchers measure their outcomes appropriately. Additionally, the statistical analysis method used by the researchers allowed for the measurement of all variables, thereby increasing the credibility of the study. The small sample size used in the study, however, may have limited the predictability of aggressive and violent behavior among ASPD and BPD patients. Also, the study only relied on self-reported aggression, which may not have been the actual representative of the actual aggressive behavior.
Given the robustness of this study, I would recommend it to colleagues as it provides insights on how to assess violent behaviors and aggression among patients with ASPD and BPD. As a mental health nurse, dealing with physically aggressive patients is challenging; hence understanding the factors associated with this aggression can help providers device appropriate care strategies.
In conclusion, individuals with BPD and ASPD engage in both self-harm behaviors and violence towards others. These violent behaviors may cause challenges for mental health nurses as they offer care to these individuals; hence in most cases, people with ASPD often end up being involved with the criminal justice system. The finding in the analyzed article indicates that the use of the FFM personality model can help mental health nurses in establishing the risk for violence and physical aggression among BPD and ASPD patients.
References
González, R. A., Igoumenou, A., Kallis, C., & Coid, J. W. (2016). Borderline personality disorder and violence in the UK population: Categorical and dimensional trait assessment. BMC Psychiatry , 16 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0885-7
Kolla, N. J., Meyer, J. H., Bagby, R. M., & Brijmohan, A. (2016). Trait anger, physical aggression, and violent offending in antisocial and borderline personality disorders. Journal of Forensic Sciences , 62 (1), 137-141. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13234
Ten Have, M., Verheul, R., Kaasenbrood, A., Van Dorsselaer, S., Tuithof, M., Kleinjan, M., & De Graaf, R. (2016). Prevalence rates of borderline personality disorder symptoms: A study based on The Netherlands mental health survey and incidence study-2. BMC Psychiatry , 16 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0939-x
