title: Childhood emotional support and borderline personality features in a sample of Canadian psychiatric outpatients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite links between early relational experiences and psychopathology, data regarding childhood emotional neglect among Canadian mental health services users are scarce.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore the absence of emotional support experiences reported by Canadian psychiatric outpatients, and to examine the relationship between childhood emotional support and borderline personality disorder (BPD) features.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey regarding childhood emotional support was completed by consecutively admitted adult outpatients, along with self-report assessments of symptom distress and BPD features.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A substantial proportion of outpatients reported absent emotional support experiences. After controlling for the effects of age and symptom distress, childhood emotional support was found to be significantly negatively associated with BPD features.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings add further support to the need for clinical attention to the early relational experiences of mental health service users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada david.kealy@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kealy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Sierra-Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ogrodniczuk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D057566:Self Report; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Childhood emotional support; borderline personality disorder; emotional neglect; psychiatric outpatients