23/06/2026
Exploring Clinician Perspectives and Lived Experience of Adolescents Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): A Qualitative Interview Study
Reference Number: H2025/0593
May 2026
INFORMATION SHEET FOR PARTICIPANTS DIAGNOSED WITH BPD
Introduction
We are interested in exploring how clinicians perceive, formulate, diagnose and treat adolescents presenting with personality disorder symptoms. Additionally, we are exploring reflections on what is was like to receive a diagnosis from those with lived experience of a BPD diagnosis. This project is being undertaken as part of the requirements of a PhD conducted by Frances Cunliffe, under the supervision of Professor Gareth Treharne and Professor Martin Sellbom.
Thank you for showing an interest in this project. Please read this information sheet carefully before deciding whether or not to participate. If you decide to participate, we thank you. If you decide not to take part, there will be no disadvantage to you, and we thank you for considering our request.
What is the Aim of the Project?
The present study aims to capture the perspectives of people who engaged with the mental health system during adolescence and either received a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder during adolescence or were not diagnosed until adulthood. We are wanting to hear about and explore your perspective on what it was like receiving (or not receiving) a diagnosis during this period and how this impacted on you, your sense of self, and your experiences within the mental health system. This is part of a larger project that seeks to explore how clinicians are currently making decisions about moderate to severe mental health issues in young people.
What Type of Participants are Being Sought?
We are seeking people who received a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder during their adolescence between the ages of 10-19 years, or people who engaged in the mental health system during adolescence but were not diagnosed with borderline personality disorder until adulthood. You must have been diagnosed by either a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or psychiatry registrar in Aotearoa/New Zealand. We are seeking participants above the age of 18 years. We are aiming to recruit approximately 6-12 participants.
What will Participants be Asked to Do?
If you agree to take part in this project, you will be asked to engage in an approximately hour-long interview to discuss your experience of being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder during your adolescence. The interview can be held at your preference; over Zoom, at the University of Otago, or at your workplace. You are encouraged to bring a support person such as a whānau member, or friend, if you wish. To help cover any expenses involved you will be provided with a $50 supermarket voucher.
What Data or Information will be Collected and What Use will be Made of it?
Basic demographic data will be collected and securely stored (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, age at diagnosis, area of living, professional title of clinician who diagnosed you, any comorbid diagnoses) as well as recording and transcriptions of the data. All data will be deidentified and not linked back to you in any way. We will also ask for an email address so we can contact those of you who request the findings of this study and also so we can identify your data if you contact us about it.
Only the primary investigator Professor Gareth Treharne and the student investigator Frances Cunliffe will have access to the raw data. We will use the AI transcription service Otter.ai to generate transcriptions of the interviews. Please note that this involves uploading the audio recordings to Otter.ai, a third-party service based overseas, which means the data will be out of the direct control of the research team during transcription. However, Otter.ai employs strict security measures to protect your data (see https://otter.ai/privacy-security), and once the transcriptions are completed, all recordings will be securely managed by the research team. Transcriptions will be kept securely for 10 years after being generated. Participants’ confidentiality and privacy are of utmost importance to us, and every effort will be made to safeguard your information throughout the study. If you have concerns about this method of transcription, you are welcome to talk to Frances about other options.
The results of the project may be published, and Frances’s thesis will be available online in the University of Otago archive but every attempt will be made to ensure that you will not be identified.
If you wish to receive a copy of the results, please include your email address on the consent form. We will keep a database of people who wish to be contacted regarding the study’s results. The database will be password protected and will not include any other data and will be deleted at the completion of the dissertation.
Can Participants Change their Mind and Withdraw from the Project?
Please be aware that you can withdraw from the interview at any point without any disadvantage to yourself of any kind. You will be given the opportunity to view a summary of the results before they are finalised, and you are free to withdraw from the study at any point up to the time of findings being released. No identifying details will be included in the final write up, or in any publications.
What if Participants have any Questions?
If you have any questions about our project, either now or in the future, please feel free to contact either:
Frances Cunliffe
Main researcher
Department of Psychology
Email: [email protected]
Professor Gareth Treharne
Supervisor
Department of Psychology
Email: [email protected]
Professor Martin Sellbom
Supervisor
School of Psychological Sciences
Monash University
Email: [email protected]
This study has been approved by the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee. If you have any concerns about the ethical conduct of the research you may contact the Committee through the Human Ethics Committee Administrator (phone +643 479 8256 or email [email protected]). Any issues you raise will be treated in confidence and investigated and you will be informed of the outcome.
