MSI-BPD: Borderline Personality Disorder Screen

What it measures

The McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD) is a 10-item yes/no self-report screen. Each item asks about one feature of borderline personality disorder:

• Troubled close relationships with frequent arguments or repeated breakups
• Deliberate self-harm or a suicide attempt
• At least two other problems with impulsivity
• Extreme moodiness
• Feeling very angry much of the time, or often acting angry or sarcastic
• Often being distrustful of other people
• Frequently feeling unreal, or that things around you are unreal
• Chronic emptiness
• Often feeling you have no idea who you are, or no identity
• Desperate efforts to avoid feeling or being abandoned

Items and scoring

Each "yes" scores 1, so the total runs from 0 to 10. The tool updates the total as you answer and classifies the result once all ten items are answered.

Total	Result
0-6	Below screening threshold
7-10	Positive screen; further evaluation warranted

The cutoff of 7 or more comes from the original validation study (Zanarini MC et al., J Pers Disord, 2003).

What the report includes

The copied report lists the date, total out of 10, the screening result with a suggested next step, each item and its yes/no response, the scoring note, a reminder that this is a screen, and the source citation. It is plain text for pasting into an EMR. A blank printable form is available from the tool header.

Limitations

The MSI-BPD is a screening tool, not a diagnostic instrument. A positive result should prompt a full psychiatric evaluation for borderline personality disorder and its differential diagnoses, interpreted alongside the clinical interview and DSM criteria. A negative screen does not end the assessment when the clinical picture suggests otherwise.