Reported pathological childhood experiences associated with the development of borderline personality disorder

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess a full range of pathological childhood experiences reported by patients with criteria-defined borderline personality disorder and com-parison patients with other personality disorders. Method: The pathological childhood expe-riences reported by 467 inpatients with personality disorders were assessed by interviewers who used a semistructured research interview and were blind to clinical diagnosis. Results: Of the 358 patients with borderline personality disorder, 91 % reported having been abused, and 92 % reported having been neglected, before the age of 18. The borderline patients were sig-nificantly more likely than the 109 patients with other personality disorders to report having been emotionally and physically abused by a caretaker and sexually abused by a noncaretaker. They were also significantly more likely to report having a caretaker withdraw from them emotionally, treat them inconsistently, deny their thoughts and feelings, place them in the role of a parent, and fail to provide them with needed protection. The borderline patients with a childhood history of sexual abuse were significantly more likely than those without such a history to report having experienced all but one of the types of abuse and neglect studied. When all significant risk factors were considered together, four were found to be significan