Implications of Childhood Sexual Abuse for Adult Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 160; no. 2; pp. 369 - 371
• Main Authors: McLean, Linda M., Gallop, Ruth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Publishing 01.02.2003; American Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Age of onset; Biological and medical sciences; Borderline personality disorder; Borderline Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Borderline Personality Disorder - psychology; Child; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse, Sexual - diagnosis; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Child, Preschool; Childhood sexual abuse; Comorbidity; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Nosology. Terminology. Diagnostic criteria; Post traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regression Analysis; Risk factors; Sex crimes; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Techniques and methods; Women; Human; Borderline; Posttraumatic syndrome; Anxiety disorder; Nosology; Infantile experience; Victimology; Personality disorder; Stress; Symptomatology; Age of onset; Criterion; Early traumatism; Classification; Risk factor; Female; Sexual abuse; Diagnosis; Predictive factor; Antecedent; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.2.369

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether women with a history of early-onset sexual abuse or those with late-onset sexual abuse were more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for both borderline personality disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHOD: The Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and the Trauma Assessment Package were administered to 65 women from three outpatient clinics in a metropolitan area. Thirty-eight subjects met criteria for early-onset abuse, while 27 subjects met criteria for late-onset abuse. RESULTS: The diagnoses of both borderline personality disorder and complex PTSD were significantly higher in women reporting early-onset abuse than in those with late-onset abuse. The trauma variables sexual abuse and paternal incest were significant predictors of both diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to those with comorbid diagnoses, some women with a history of childhood sexual abuse may be extricated from the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and subsumed under that of complex PTSD.