The effects of the psychiatric label ‘borderline personality disorder’ on nursing staff's perceptions and causal attributions for challenging behaviours

Abstract

Staff regard patients with a BPD label to be more in control of negative behaviour than patients with a label of schizophrenia or depression. In accord with Weiner's (1985) model, attributions of control were inversely related to staff sympathy. Addressing attributions of control may provide a means to modify staff sympathy towards patients with a diagnosis of BPD and counteract their negative experiences.