According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (1), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is "a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts" (p. 663). BPD is diagnosed when individuals meet at least five of the nine diagnostic criteria. Nevertheless, a plethora of studies has indicated the shortcomings of the current DSM diagnostic system, which includes an inadequate scientific basis, arbitrary cutoffs, comorbidity among personality disorders (PDs), comorbidity with other psychological disorders, heterogeneity of diagnoses, and insufficient coverage (e.g., 2, 3, 4).
Another approach to conceptualizing PDs is the dimensional model rather than the categorical one, which has been supported in previous studies (e.g., 2, 5, 6). In this vein, prior to the publication of the DSM-5, an alternative model for the diagnosis of personality disorders (PD) was proposed (1), which was rejected by the DSM-5 Committee, and the model was published in DSM-5's section III, i.e., emerging models and measures so that it could gather additional research support and evidence. As such, ongoing studies are providing support for the idea that PDs could be best conceptualized with a dimensional view; more specifically, a growing body of research indicates that BPD is best viewed as a dimensional construct (e.g., 7, 8–10). Therefore, it may be helpful to assess BPD utilizing dimensional trait measures. Studies on the conceptualization and measurement of personality disorders with the dimensional trait models have supported using the Five-Factor Model (FFM; McCrae & Costa, 2003) to explore the role of personality traits in personality pathology (11). The FFM comprises five broad domains of personality functioning, including neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Further, each of these domains includes six facets (12). Strong evidence suggests that all ten personality disorders can be conceptualized as maladaptive alternatives of FFM personality traits and that personality disorders represent pathological constellations of fundamental personality traits (e.g., 13, 14). In this vein, several measures have been developed that assess the maladaptive variants of personality disorders based on the FFM (e.g., 15, 16). FFM-based measures of personality disorders have a few merits. For instance, such measures allow measuring the maladaptive variants of the FFM, which are not assessed by general FFM measures; thereby, filling the gap between the FFM and the DSM-5 personality disorders by. In addition, dimensional trait approaches like the FFM are more informative than categorical models in that they allow the measurement of more fundamental aspects of PDs (17).
To assess BPD from a dimensional trait perspective, Mullins-Sweatt et al. (18) developed the Five-Factor Borderline Inventory (FFBI). The FFBI was developed based on the empirical evidence suggesting BPD is strongly related to 11 facets of the FFM measured by the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (13, 14, 19–22). Based on these empirical studies, Mullins-Sweatt et al. (18) built 12 subscales that measure the components of BPD. Each dimension is associated directly with a distinct NEO PI-R facet, while the vulnerability facet NEO PI-R contributes to two FFBI subscales. The FFBI subscales include anxious uncertainty (derived from NEO PI-R anxiousness), dysregulated anger (angry hostility), despondence (depressiveness), self-disturbance (self-consciousness), behavioral dysregulation (impulsiveness), affective dysregulation (vulnerability), fragility (vulnerability), dissociative tendencies (fantasy), distrust (trust), manipulativeness (straightforwardness), oppositional (compliance), and rashness (deliberation). In the original study, Mullins-Sweatt et al. (18) developed a measure with 240 items and 20 items for each subscale. The measure was administered with a large undergraduate sample. Then, 120 items were selected based on internal consistency, convergence with the respective NEO PI-R facet scales, and convergence with other BPD scales. The Final version of FFBI includes 120 items (10 items for 12 subscales), which was then validated with a large group of undergraduate students and a clinical sample (i.e., patients with substance use disorder). The results indicated that the FFBI had acceptable internal consistency and was associated well with the NEO PI-R and existing measures of BPD. Furthermore, each FFBI subscale was associated with its corresponding parent NEO PI-R facet. In a second study, DeShong et al. (23) provided further support for the psychometrics (convergent and discriminant validities) of the FFBI by studying two samples of individuals with a history of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Also, DeShong et al. (23) assessed the associations between FFBI and measures of constructs related to BPD, including impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, early childhood emotional vulnerability, parental invalidation, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety. Thus, the study illustrated further construct validity of the FFBI.
Notwithstanding the benefit of the FFBI, the measure is very long and time-consuming when administered. Therefore, a shorter version of the FFBI may be more beneficial in both clinical and research settings. DeShong et al. (17) developed the short form of the FFBI (FFBI-SF) using item response theory analyses. Their results yielded 48 items, with four items per subscale. The internal consistency of the FFBI-SF subscales ranged from .71 (oppositional) to .86 (affective dysregulation and dissociative tendencies). Also, the FFBI-SF subscales scores were significantly correlated with the full version, which ranged from .85 (dissociative tendencies) to .95 (anxious uncertainty). The FFBI-SF yielded strong convergence with other BPD scales (e.g., MCMI-III) and convergent/discriminant validity with the NEO PI-R scores. Furthermore, Helle et al. (24) indicated that the FFBI-SF predicts specific maladaptive behaviors (e.g., arguing with close family/friends, binging, alcohol misuse, and nonsuicidal self-injury) over time. Beyond this, the FFBI-SF has demonstrated its usefulness in several studies as a dimensional trait measure of BPD, being used in studies related to thought control strategy differences in suicide risk and BPD (25), sleep problems as mediating risk factors for suicide risk within BPD (26), and in studies investigating precursors of the emotional cascade model of BPD (27). In sum, studies indicate that the FFBI-SF is a valid, informative, and useful measure for assessing BPD from a dimensional trait perspective.
The Current Study
While previous studies support the psychometrics of the FFBI-SF, such findings are results of studies from the Western cultures and could not be generalized to Eastern cultures (e.g., Iran). There exist essential variations between Eastern/Asian (e.g., Iran) and Western (e.g., Europe, USA) cultures regarding interpersonal relations, cultural values, and social standards (28), emotional expression (29), and emotional arousal levels (30), which may influence the structure of measures assessing personality in Asian cultures (e.g., Iran). In this regard, different structures of personality constructs due to cultural differences have been indicated in several studies. For instance, the originally proposed five-factor model of the personality inventory for DSM-5 brief form (PID-5-BF; 31) was not replicated with Chinese samples, and a six-factor model was proposed in which the Negative Affect domain was divided into two factors. The new factor labeled "Interpersonal Relationships" was consistent with the Big-Six Personality model in China and reflected the humanistic ethic spirit of Chinese culture (32–34). Similarly, the FFM did not reach a well-fit model in some Asian countries (e.g., 35, 36, 37), and the Openness dimension of the NEO Personality Inventory was poorly replicated in a study with 24 different Asian cultures, including Iran (38). Therefore, since the FFBI and its short form have been developed through the lens of FFM, the FFBI-SF might not yield the same factor structure suggested in previous studies from Western cultures. As a result, considering the role of cultural discrepancies in different factor structure findings (i.e., PID-5-BF and NEO), results from studies on the psychometrics of FFBI-SF in Western countries cannot be generalized to the Iranian population, and a separate study is needed to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validities of the FFBI-SF with Iranian samples.
In the current study, we examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Persian version of the FFBI-SF with a sample of Iranian university students. First, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the proposed twelve-factor structure of the FFBI-SF (17). Then, reliability indices values (Cronbach’s α and mean inter-item correlation values) were calculated to examine the reliability of the Persian FFBI-SF scores. We expected the Persian form of the FFBI-SF to demonstrate strong reliability indices values. Finally, the association of FFBI-SF subscales scores with external correlates of interest (e.g., Negative Affectivity, Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Consciousness) were calculated to examine the convergent/discriminant validities of the FFBI-SF scores. Specifically, we expected the FFBI-SF Total score to correlate positively to Negative Affective, Disinhibition, and Antagonism while negatively correlated with Consciousness and Agreeableness. Furthermore, we expected the FFBI-SF subscales to demonstrate convergent validity with their parent domain and discriminant validity with other personality domains (e.g., 17, 18, 23, 24, 39).