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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation

A scoping review of psychosocial functioning in young people with personality pathology: current evidence and methodological issues

  • Rasa Barkauskienė1
  • Gabrielė Skabeikytė-Norkienė1
  • Sophia Peter2,3
  • Saskia Bamberger4
  • Katja Bertsch5
  • Chiara De Panfilis6
  • Joost Hutsebaut7
  • Andres Kaera8
  • Mickey T. Kongerslev9
  • Ueli Kramer10
  • Mariana Mendoza-Alvarez11
  • Emanuele Preti12
4 more authors
  • Charlotte Rosenbach13,14
  • Christian Schmahl15
  • Michaela Swales16
  • Svenja Taubner2
16 affiliations
  1. 1Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Universiteto g. 9/1 LT-01513, Vilnius, Lithuania
  2. 2Institute for Psychosocial Prevention, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
  3. 3Institute of Psychology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
  4. 4Lived Experience Group on the ESSPD Board, Ulm, Germany
  5. 5Department of Psychology, Julius-Maximilians-University Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
  6. 6Unit of Neuroscience, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
  7. 7Center of Research on Psychological disorders and Somatic diseases (CoRPS), Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
  8. 8Medical Care Units, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Wellbeing Services County of Kanta-Häme, Hämeenlinna, Finland
  9. 9Mental Health Services West, Region Zealand, Denmark
  10. 10Department of Psychiatry, University Institute of Psychotherapy, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  11. 11Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
  12. 12Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
  13. 13Faculty of Health, Heath and Medical University, Erfurt, Germany
  14. 14Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  15. 15Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
  16. 16North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme Bangor University, Bangor, UK
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Abstract

Background: Despite evidence that personality pathology often emerges during the transition from adolescence to adulthood and leads to lasting psychosocial impairment, research on how these impairments manifest and develop in young people remains limited.

Objectives: This review aims to map existing literature on psychosocial functioning in individuals aged 12–25 with clinical or subclinical personality pathology, examining definitions and measures of functioning, its relationship with personality pathology, and the impact of early interventions, while identifying gaps for future research.

Findings: A total of 37 studies were included: 14 cross-sectional, 7 longitudinal, and 16 on early interventions. In clinical samples, overall functioning was most assessed, whereas community studies focused on specific domains. Across studies, adolescents with personality pathology showed greater psychosocial impairment than both healthy controls and other psychopathology groups, both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Improvement in global psychosocial functioning has been documented across varying interventions but there was the lack of differences between treatment approaches.

Conclusion: While emerging evidence highlights psychosocial dysfunction in young people with personality pathology, methodological limitations hinder comparisons across studies. Developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and domain-specific assessments are needed to track psychosocial impairment alongside symptom progression in young people.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-026-00362-2.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{barkauskienė2026scoping,
  title = {{A scoping review of psychosocial functioning in young people with personality pathology: current evidence and methodological issues}},
  author = {Rasa Barkauskienė and Gabrielė Skabeikytė-Norkienė and Sophia Peter and Saskia Bamberger and Katja Bertsch and Chiara De Panfilis and Joost Hutsebaut and Andres Kaera and Mickey T. Kongerslev and Ueli Kramer and Mariana Mendoza-Alvarez and Emanuele Preti and Charlotte Rosenbach and Christian Schmahl and Michaela Swales and Svenja Taubner},
  journal = {Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1186/s40479-026-00362-2},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-026-00362-2},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A scoping review of psychosocial functioning in young people with personality pathology: current evidence and methodological issues
AU  - Rasa Barkauskienė
AU  - Gabrielė Skabeikytė-Norkienė
AU  - Sophia Peter
AU  - Saskia Bamberger
AU  - Katja Bertsch
AU  - Chiara De Panfilis
AU  - Joost Hutsebaut
AU  - Andres Kaera
AU  - Mickey T. Kongerslev
AU  - Ueli Kramer
AU  - Mariana Mendoza-Alvarez
AU  - Emanuele Preti
AU  - Charlotte Rosenbach
AU  - Christian Schmahl
AU  - Michaela Swales
AU  - Svenja Taubner
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/01
JO  - Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation
DO  - 10.1186/s40479-026-00362-2
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-026-00362-2
AB  - Background: Despite evidence that personality pathology often emerges during the transition from adolescence to adulthood and leads to lasting psychosocial impairment, research on how these impairments manifest and develop in young people remains limited.  Objectives: This review aims to map existing literature on psychosocial functioning in individuals aged 12–25 with clinical or subclinical personality pathology, examining definitions and measures of functioning, its relationship with personality pathology, and the impact of early interventions, while identifying gaps for future research.  Findings: A total of 37 studies were included: 14 cross-sectional, 7 longitudinal, and 16 on early interventions. In clinical samples, overall functioning was most assessed, whereas community studies focused on specific domains. Across studies, adolescents with personality pathology showed greater psychosocial impairment than both healthy controls and other psychopathology groups, both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Improvement in global psychosocial functioning has been documented across varying interventions but there was the lack of differences between treatment approaches.  Conclusion: While emerging evidence highlights psychosocial dysfunction in young people with personality pathology, methodological limitations hinder comparisons across studies. Developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and domain-specific assessments are needed to track psychosocial impairment alongside symptom progression in young people.  Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-026-00362-2.
SN  - 2051-6673
ER  -