Severity of anxiety symptoms reported by borderline patients and Axis II comparison subjects: description and prediction over 16 years of prospective follow-up.

The first purpose of this study was to determine the severity of anxiety symptoms reported by borderline patients and Axis II comparison subjects over 16 years of follow-up. The second purpose was to determine the most salient predictors of the severity of anxiety symptoms of borderline patients. Initially, 290 borderline inpatients and 72 comparison subjects were assessed using measures of anxiety, childhood adversity, and normal personality. The severity of anxiety symptoms was reassessed every 2 years. Borderline patients reported approximately twice as severe symptoms of anxiety as comparison subjects. However, these symptoms decreased significantly over time for those in both groups. Among borderline patients, two variables were found to be significant multivariate predictors of severity of overall anxiety: nonsexual childhood abuse and trait neuroticism. The results of this study suggest that anxiety symptoms form a distinct profile for borderline patients-a profile related to both childhood adversity and a vulnerable temperament.