The relationships among childhood abuse, borderline personality, and self-harm behavior in psychiatric inpatients.
The current study was undertaken to explore the relationships among childhood abuse subtypes (sexual, physical, and emotional abuse; witnessing violence), three diagnostic screenings for borderline personality disorder (BPD), and self-harm behavior. Psychiatric inpatients (N = 77) were evaluated for childhood abuse histories through a survey. Participants also underwent assessment for BPD using a self-report measure, clinical diagnosis, and a DSM-IV checklist. Finally, each was assessed for self-harm behavior using the 22-item Self-Harm Inventory (SHI). Compared with non-abused participants, those with abuse histories (with the exception of witnessing violence) had a significantly greater number of BPD confirmations (i.e., self-report, clinical diagnosis, DSM-IV checklist) as well as self-harm behaviors. When examining the total number of endorsed abuse subtypes, there was a significant correlation with the number of self-harm behaviors, but not the number of BPD diagnoses. Among psychiatric inpatients, childhood abuse demonstrates a complex relationship to BPD diagnoses and self-harm behavior.
Sansone
Randy A
RA
Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Gaither
George A
GA
Songer
Douglas A
DA
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*