A Comparison of Problem Solving, Working Memory, and Selective Attention Executive Functions in Patients with Bipolar II Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Non-clinical Samples

Introduction: The distinction between Bipolar II Disorder (BD-II) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) due to symptom overlap has always been a challenging issue among psychiatrists. In the present study, problem-solving functions, working memory and selective attention were compared in BD-II patients, BPD and non-clinical samples to distinguish the two disorders. Method: For this purpose, ۳۰ BD-II patients, ۳۰ BPD and ۳۰ non-clinical sample were selected by convenience sampling method. They were evaluated using Executive Function (EFs) tests. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test. Results: Except for selective attention, which was not significantly different in BD-II patients compared to the non-clinical group (P>۰/۰۵); BD-II patients and BPD in all EFs had significantly lower performance than the non-clinical group (P<۰/۰۱, P<۰/۰۵). Problem solving ability was significantly lower in BD-II patients than in BPD patients (P<۰/۰۵). There was no significant difference between the two patient groups in working memory and selective attention (P>۰/۰۵). Conclusion: These findings, provides evidence of differences in some of the EFs in BD-II patients and BPD; which may be related to different impulsivity in these two disorders. Therefore, conducting research in other dimensions of EFs is recommended to distinguish between these two disorders.

Keywords:

Bipolar II Disorder , borderline personality disorder , Executive Functions