BPS Attitude Scale

The BPS-Einstellungsskala: An Academic Review of a Self-Report Questionnaire for Assessing Stigmatizing Attitudes Towards Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

The BPS-Einstellungsskala (Schäfer et al., 2023), also known as the BPS Setting Scale, is a self-report questionnaire designed to quantitatively measure stigmatizing attitudes among psychiatric staff towards patients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Its development was inspired by two existing self-report questionnaires: the Borderline Patient Cognitive Attitudes and Treatment Inventory (BPD-CAT) and the Borderline Patient Emotional Attitudes Inventory (BPD-EA), both developed by Bodner, Cohen-Fridel, & Iancu in 2011. The translation process from English to German adhered to the European Social Survey Translation Guidelines (European Social Survey, 2018), with the original German version comprising 44 translated items from BPD-CAT and 20 from BPD-EA. Three items from BPD-CAT were excluded due to translational ambiguity. The questionnaire was administered to a German sample of psychiatrists, psychologists, and nurses. Subsequent analyses focused on a refined set of 26 items from BPD-CAT and 17 from BPD-EA that were deemed relevant and unambiguously interpretable. A final 22-item version of the questionnaire was utilized for principal component analysis, with reported results detailing its reliability, validity, and factor structure.

Keywords

Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD Assessment of Suicide Risk, BPD Assumption of Manipulative Tendencies, BPD Treatment Difficulties, BPD-Negative Emotions, Psychiatric Staff, Stigmas.

Authors

Schäfer, Marvin; Luck-Sikorski, Claudia; Hochrein, Regine; Schomerus, Georg; Gollek, Sabine

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Purpose

The BPS-Einstellungsskala aims to assess stigmatizing attitudes held by psychiatric staff concerning patients afflicted with borderline personality disorder.

Validity

Criterion Validity: The BPS-Einstellungsskala demonstrates significant criterion validity. A substantial positive correlation was observed between the overall BPS attitude scale and social distance (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 1997) (p < 0.001). Similarly, a significant positive relationship was found between social distance and the BPD difficulties in treatment subscale (p < 0.001). However, the association between social distance and BPD assessment of suicide risk was not statistically significant (p = 0.067). A large significant positive association was identified between social distance and the BPS allegation of manipulative intentions (p < 0.001). A small but significant positive association was also found for social distance and BPS-negative emotions (p < 0.001). It is important to note that a Spearman correlation, conducted due to the absence of a normal distribution, for social distance and BPS-negative emotions was not significant (Spearman’s ρ = − .20, p = .056).

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The BPS-Einstellungsskala exhibits strong internal consistency. The Cronbach’s alpha for the overall scale is .90. For the subscales, the internal consistency values are as follows: BPD difficulties in treatment (Cronbach’s α = .90); BPD assessment of suicide risk (Cronbach’s α = .82); BPD assumption of manipulative intentions (Cronbach’s α = .72); and BPD-negative emotions (Cronbach’s α = .84).

Factor Analysis

Principal Component Analysis: A principal component analysis revealed a four-principal component structure for the BPS-Einstellungsskala. These components are identified as: BPD treatment difficulties, BPD assessment of suicide risk, BPD assumption of manipulative tendencies, and BPD-negative emotions. This structure collectively accounts for 63.60% of the explained variance, with observed correlations between the principal components and social distance ranging from small to large.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire.

Format: The items on the BPS-Einstellungsskala are rated on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from “1 = decline” to “5 = agree.”

Language Available: German.

Population Group: Human (Male and Female).

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older), including Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), and Middle Age (40-64 years).

Population Details: The study participants were psychiatrists, psychologists, and nursing staff, with ages ranging from 21 to 62 years, located in Germany.

Test Methodology: The methodology employed in the development and validation of the BPS-Einstellungsskala includes Test Validity, Criterion Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis.

Keywords

Borderline Personality Disorder, BPD Assessment of Suicide Risk, BPD Assumption of Manipulative Tendencies, BPD Treatment Difficulties, BPD-Negative Emotions, Psychiatric Staff, Stigmas.

Authors

Author OCRID Identifier: No data is Available

Affiliation:

• Schäfer, Marvin: Forschungsgruppe COPE, SRH Hochschule für Gesundheit

• Luck-Sikorski, Claudia: Forschungsgruppe COPE, SRH Hochschule für Gesundheit

• Hochrein, Regine: Forschungsgruppe COPE, SRH Hochschule für Gesundheit

• Schomerus, Georg: Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig

• Gollek, Sabine: Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig

Email Addresses:

• Schäfer, Marvin: [email protected]

• Luck-Sikorski, Claudia: No data is Available

• Hochrein, Regine: No data is Available

• Schomerus, Georg: No data is Available

• Gollek, Sabine: No data is Available

Correspondence Address:

Schäfer, Marvin: SRH Hochschule für Gesundheit GmbH, Forschungsgruppe COPE, Neue Straße 28–30, Gera, Germany, 07548, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

References

Schäfer, M., Luck-Sikorski, C., Hochrein, R., Schomerus, G., & Gollek, S. (2023). Entwicklung eines Selbstauskunftsfragebogens zur Erfassung stigmatisierender Einstellungen des psychiatrischen Personals gegenüber Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung [Development of a self-report questionnaire for the measurement of stigmatizing attitudes of the psychiatric staff towards patients with borderline personality disorder]. Psychiatrische Praxis, 50(8), 424–430. doi:10.1055/a-2088-3629

Other References:

• Angermeyer, M. C., & Matschinger, H. (1997). Social distance towards people with mental illness.

• Bodner, E., Cohen-Fridel, E., & Iancu, I. (2011). Borderline Patient Cognitive Attitudes and Treatment Inventory (BPD-CAT).

• Bodner, E., Cohen-Fridel, E., & Iancu, I. (2011). Borderline Patient Emotional Attitudes Inventory (BPD-EA).

• European Social Survey. (2018). European Social Survey Translation Guidelines.

Items of the BPS-Einstellungsskala

This measure consists of 22 items. The specific items are not provided in the given text.

Alternate Test Names

• BPS Setting Scale

• BPS Attitude Scale