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Comparison of Objective and Subjective Life Balance Between Women With and Without a Personality Disorder

Psychiatric Quarterly volume 87, pages 663–673 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Life balance is associated to health, well-being and quality of life and is a target of psychiatric rehabilitation interventions. However, little is known about this life dimension in women living with personality disorders. The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to compare and explore relationships between subjective life balance, objective time use, quality of life and perceived stress in women without a mental health disorder (n = 43) and women with a personality disorder (clusters B and C) (n = 30), aged between 18 and 50 years old. The variables were measured with the Life Balance Inventory (subjective life balance), the Occupational Questionnaire (objective time use), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (perceived stress) and the Quality of Life Index (satisfaction and importance with life domains). The analyses showed that women with a personality disorder spend significantly less time in work but more time in daily tasks and leisure. Subjective life balance, quality of life and perceived stress were significantly lower in women with a personality disorder (p < 0.05). In women with a personality disorder, subjective life balance was explained by quality of life (R2 = 27.5 %). In women without a mental illness, subjective life balance was explained by quality of life and motherhood (R2 = 36.1 %). To support the recovery of women with personality disorders and their quality of life, it is important to address objective and subjective time use to enable accomplishment of a variety of meaningful activities.

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Acknowledgments

This study would not have been possible without the availability of the women who participated and we are very grateful. The authors would like to sincerely thank the clinical teams in all the sites for their collaboration.

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Affiliations

  1. School of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, J1H 5N4, Canada

    Nadine Larivière, Catherine Denis, Amélie Payeur, Amélie Ferron, Stéphanie Levesque & Guillaume Rivard

Authors
  1. Nadine Larivière
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  2. Catherine Denis
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  3. Amélie Payeur
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  4. Amélie Ferron
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  5. Stéphanie Levesque
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  6. Guillaume Rivard
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nadine Larivière.

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Conflict of interest

The corresponding author received funding for this study from the Faculty of medicine and health sciences of the Université de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Canada). Catherine Denis, Amélie Payeur, Amélie Ferron, Stéphanie Levesque and Guillaume Rivard declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Statement for Studies with Human Subjects

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5).

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Larivière, N., Denis, C., Payeur, A. et al. Comparison of Objective and Subjective Life Balance Between Women With and Without a Personality Disorder. Psychiatr Q 87, 663–673 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9417-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9417-3

Keywords

  • Subjective life balance
  • Time use
  • Personality disorders
  • Quality of life