Abstract
A sample of volunteers from a group of randomly selected psychologists in New York State (N = 119) provided a primary diagnosis and rule-out diagnoses for a case vignette that included balanced criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a mail survey. Vignettes portrayed a male or a female client, and history of childhood sexual abuse was presented either first or last. Results indicated that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) clinicians were more likely to diagnose PTSD than BPD or other disorders, and psychodynamic clinicians were more likely to diagnose BPD or other disorders than PTSD. An anchoring effect (i.e., evidence that one regards initial information as an anchor that may or may not be adjusted upon exposure to subsequent information) of abuse history presentation was found. Findings did not support a patient or clinician gender bias.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 282-290 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy |
Volume | 1 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2009 |
Keywords
- anchoring effect
- borderline personality disorder
- diagnostic bias
- gender bias
- posttraumatic stress disorder