Borderline personality pathology and insomnia symptoms in community-dwelling older adults

Prior research has associated BPD with sleep problems, but the relationship has been explored primarily in small clinical samples of younger adults. Findings from our lab have demonstrated that borderline symptoms remain present in later middle age and are associated with several negative life outcomes. A representative community sample of older adults (N=633, M_age=62.3) was obtained from the St Louis area, and interviewer-reports, self-reports, and informant-reports of personality pathology were completed along with an insomnia symptoms questionnaire. Cross-sectional analyses revealed that symptoms from all 10 DSM-IV personality disorders were significantly correlated with insomnia symptoms. However, after statistically controlling for major depression, body-mass index, race and gender, only borderline personality pathology remained significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Our results demonstrate that in addition to other negative health outcomes, borderline personality pathology is uniquely associated with sleep problems in later middle-aged adults in the community.