SEX BIAS IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF BORDERLINE PERSONALITY-DISORDER AND POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER

This study questioned the existence of sex bias in the clinical diagnosis of both borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists (N = 1,080) were asked in a mail survey to assess the applicability of a number of diagnoses to a case tailored to include equal numbers of criteria for both BPD and PTSD. Half of the subjects received a ''male'' case; the other half received an identical ''female'' case. Results from the final sample of 31 1 revealed sex bias in diagnosis, particularly with respect to sex of client, sex of clinician, and profession of clinician.