Mistimed pregnancies in women with and without borderline personality disorder (BPD)

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and correlates of mistimed pregnancies in a psychiatric sample of women with and without Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). We enrolled 215 women aged 18-40 years (M = 26.9, SD = 6.6); 114 women with BPD and 101 women who met diagnostic criteria for a current, non-psychotic Axis-I disorder, primarily mood disorders. We oversampled African-American (AA) women (34%, compared to 13% in the Pittsburgh area) because little is known about BPD in AA women. All participants completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and II diagnoses (SCID-I and -II) and were interviewed about their reproductive health history. Mistimed pregnancies were common (31% had experienced a teenage pregnancy and 44% had at least one unplanned pregnancy). AA women reported earlier coitarche, more teenage pregnancies, and more unplanned pregnancies than non-AA women, but not more sexual partners. There were also different correlates of mistimed pregnancies for these 2 groups. Teenage pregnancies were associated with current substance use disorder in AA women, but not in non-AA women. Child sexual abuse was a risk factor for teenage pregnancy and more unplanned pregnancies overall in non-AA women, whereas ever being married and higher BPD scores were risk factors for more unplanned pregnancies in AA women. The current findings demonstrate that AA women are at greater risk for mistimed pregnancies than non-AA women, even within a high-risk psychiatric sample, and that BPD severity is associated with unplanned pregnancies in AA women.