Clinician bias in the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 2(2) of Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (see record 2010-12181-005). In this article, the copyright attribution is incorrect. The article is in the public domain.] A sample of volunteers from a group of randomly selected psychologists in New York State (N = 119) provided a primary diagnosis and rule-out diagnoses for a case vignette that included balanced criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a mail survey. Vignettes portrayed a male or a female client, and history of childhood sexual abuse was presented either first or last. Results indicated that cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) clinicians were more likely to diagnose PTSD than BPD or other disorders, and psychodynamic clinicians were more likely to diagnose BPD or other disorders than PTSD. An anchoring effect (i.e., evidence that one regards initial information as an anchor that may or may not be adjusted upon exposure to subsequent information) of abuse history presentation was found. Findings did not support a patient or clinician gender bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)