On Friday 22 May 2026 at 13:15, Alisha Hall defends her PhD dissertation entitled “Genetics of borderline personality disorder and its associations with other psychiatric disorders and stressful life experiences”. 

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently co-occurs with other mental health and physical health conditions, but the combined roles of genes and life experiences in BPD etiology and its associations with other conditions is unclear. This PhD project completed at the Graduate School of Health at Aarhus University integrated three large population studies from Denmark and Sweden to address this gap.

Using nationwide health registers, DNA data, and multigenerational family records, different genetic methods were applied to try to identify potential risk genes for BPD and describe the role of genes and environment. Although no single risk genes for BPD were identified, the analyses revealed shared genetic risk across BPD and disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and ADHD. Relatives of people with BPD were also at higher risk for other mental health conditions and related behaviors, including self-harm, supporting shared biological pathways across diagnoses. The evidence for physical health conditions was more mixed. Also, following individuals over time, higher genetic risk, more stressful life events, female sex, and lower socioeconomic status were associated with increased BPD risk, which rose as stress accumulated. Genetic vulnerability and stress acted additively, underscoring the importance of prevention efforts that reduce modifiable stressors while recognizing underlying vulnerability.

The summary is written by the PhD student.

The defence is public and takes place in Auditorium G206-142, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Alisha Hall
Mail: alishasmhall@clin.au.dk 

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