Borderline Symptom List – Short (BSL-23)
Self-report questionnaire with 23 items
Suitable for adults
English questionnaire
License fee: € 0,00 per completion
For whom is the Borderline Symptom List intended?
This self-report questionnaire is suitable for adults.
What does the BSL measure?
The Borderline Symptom List (BSL) has been developed to diagnose and to identify the severity of Borderline Personality Disorders. The BSL is available in two versions, a longer 95-item version and a shorter 23-item version.
What does the BSL questionnaire consist of?
Both versions of the BSL measure different facets of Borderline Personality Disorders on 5-point Likert scales. While this results in different subscales for the longer 95-item version, the shorter 23-item version only has a total score as outcome. The longer version is divided into the scales self-perception, affect regulation, self-destruction, dysphoria, loneliness, intrusions and hostility. Both versions additionally also measure the total well-being on a scale from 0% to 100% as well as the frequency of several kinds of dysfunctional behaviors.
How does the BSL scoring work?
Internal consistency as well as test-retest reliability of the BSL-95 have been established with excellent values (Cronbach’s Alpha = .97, 1-week retest correlation = .84). Convergent and divergent validity have been established by comparison with relevant instruments. The results are overall good to very good. Generally, the BSL-23 showed similar results as the BSL-95.
There are percent ranks available for the BSL-23 and the BSL-95 scales.
Source of the questionnaire
Bohus, M., Limberger, M. F., Frank, U., Chapman, A. L., Kühler, T., & Stieglitz, R. D. (2007). Psychometric properties of the borderline symptom list (BSL). Psychopathology, 40(2), 126-132.
Bohus, M., Kleindienst, N., Limberger, M. F., Stieglitz, R. D., Domsalla, M., Chapman, A. L., … & Wolf, M. (2009). The short version of the Borderline Symptom List (BSL-23): development and initial data on psychometric properties. Psychopathology, 42(1), 32-39.
© Bohus et al., Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
