To examine the relationship between trauma in childhood and personality disorders in adulthood.
Method:
A review of the literature was conducted.
Results:
The reported associations between trauma and personality pathology are illuminated by the following research findings: 1) personality is heritable; 2) only a minority of patients with severe personality disorders report childhood trauma; and 3) children are generally resilient, and traumatic experiences do not consistently lead to psychopathology.
Conclusions:
The role of trauma in the personality disorders is best understood in the context of gene–environment interactions.
ParisJ. Borderline personality disorder: A multidimensional approach. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1994.
2.
ParisJ. Social factors in the personality disorders. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1996.
3.
HermanJLvan der KolkBA. Traumatic antecedents of borderline personality disorder. In: van der KolkB, editor. Psychological trauma.Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1987. p 111–26.
McCraeRRCostaPT. Personality in adulthood. New York: Guilford; 1990.
16.
ChessSThomasA. The New York longitudinal study (NYLS): The young adult periods. Can J Psychiatry1990;35:557–61.
17.
MaziadeMCaronCCotéRBoutinPThiviergeJ. Extreme temperament and diagnosis: A study in a psychiatric sample of consecutive children. Arch Gen Psychiatry1990;47:477–84.
18.
KaganJ. Galen's prophecy. New York: Basic Books; 1994.
19.
SieverLJDavisL. A psychobiological perspective on the personality disorders. Am J Psychiatry1991;148:1647–58.
20.
McGuffinPThaparA. The genetics of personality disorder. Br J Psychiatry1992;160:12–23.
21.
NiggJTGoldsmithHH. Genetics of personality disorders: Perspectives from personality and psychopathology research. Psychol Bull1994;115:346–80.
22.
TorgersenS. Personality disorders in our genes? In: The Second European Congress on Personality Disorders. Milan, Italy, June, 1996.
23.
ParisJ. Nature and nurture in psychiatry. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press. Forthcoming.
24.
RutterMRutterM. Developing minds: Challenge and continuity across the life span. New York: Basic Books; 1993.
25.
LewisM. Altering fate. New York: Guilford; 1997.
26.
RutterM. Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. Am J Orthopsychiatry1987;57:316–31.
27.
WernerEESmithRS. Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood. New York: Cornell University Press; 1992.
28.
BrowneAFinkelhorD. Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the literature. Psychol Bull1986;99:66–77.
29.
Malinovsky-RummellRHansenDJ. Long-term consequences of physical abuse. Psychol Bull1993;114:68–79.
30.
NashMRHulselyTLSextonMCHarralsonTLLambertW. Long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse: Perceived family environment, psychopathology, and dissociation. J Consulting Clin Psychol1993;61:276–83.
31.
ConteJRWolfSSmithT. What sexual offenders tell us about prevention strategies. Child Abuse Negl1989;13:293–301.
32.
FinkelhorD. The trauma of child sexual abuse: Two models. In: WyattGEPowellGJ, editors. Lasting effects of child sexual abuse. Beverly Hills: Sage; 1988. p 61–82.
33.
RomansSEMartinJLAndersonJCO'SheaMLMullenPE. Factors that mediate between childhood sexual abuse and adult outcome. Psychol Med1995;25:127–42.
34.
WidomCS. The cycle of violence. Science1989;244:16–166.
35.
TennantC. Parental loss in childhood to adult life. Arch Gen Psychiatry1988;45:1045–50.
36.
WallersteinJ. Second chances: Men, women, and children a decade after divorce. New York: Ticknor and Fields; 1989.
37.
YehudaRMcFarlaneAC. Conflict between current knowledge about posttraumatic stress disorder and its original conceptual basis. Am J Psychiatry1995;152:1705–13.
38.
TerrLC. What happens to early memories of trauma?J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry1988;27:96–104.
39.
Kendall-TackettKAWilliamsLMFinkelhorD. Impact of sexual abuse on children: A review and synthesis of recent empirical studies. Psychol Bull1993;113:164–80.
40.
BartlettFC. Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1932 (reprinted 1995).
41.
ParisJ. A critical review of recovered memories in psychotherapy: Part II. Trauma and therapy. Can J Psychiatry1996;41:206–10.
42.
LoftusEF. The reality of repressed memories. Am Psychol1993;48:518–37.
43.
OfsheRWatersE. Making monsters: False memories, psychotherapy, and sexual hysteria. New York: Scribner; 1994.
44.
ParisJ. A critical review of recovered memories in psychotherapy: Part I. Trauma and memory. Can J Psychiatry1996;41:201–5.
45.
ParisJ. Memories of abuse in BPD: True or false?Harvard Review of Psychiatry1995;3:10–17.
46.
BrewinCRAndrewsBGotlibIH. Psychopathology and early experience: A reappraisal of retrospective reports. Psychol Bull1993;113:82–98.
47.
RobinsLNSchoenbergSPHolmesSJ. Early home environment and retrospective recall; a test for concordance between siblings with and without psychiatric disorders. Am J Orthopsychiatry1985;55:27–41.
48.
PlominRBergemanC. Genetic influence on environmental measures. Behav Brain Sci1991;14:373–427.
49.
FinkelhorDHotalingGLewisIASmithC. Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: Prevalence characteristics and risk factors. Child Abuse Negl1990;14:19–28.
50.
HermanJLSchatzowE. Recovery and verification of memories of childhood sexual trauma. Psychoanalytic Psychology1987;4:11–14.
51.
Meyer WilliamsL. Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women's memories of child sexual abuse. J Consult Clin Psychol1994;62:1167–76.
52.
PopeHGHudsonJI. Can memories of childhood sexual abuse be repressed?Psychol Med1995;25:121–6.
53.
LinksPSSteinerMOffordDREppelA. Characteristics of borderline personality disorder: A Canadian study. Can J Psychiatry1988;33:336–40.
54.
HermanJLPerryJCvan der KolkBA. Childhood trauma in bonerline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry1989;146:490–5.
55.
ZanariniMCGundersonJGMarinoMFSchwartzEOFrankenburgFR. Childhood experiences of borderline patients. Compr Psychiatry1989;30:18–25.
56.
OgataSNSilkKRGoodrichSLohrN.E.WestenDHillEM. Childhood sexual and physical abuse in adult patients with borderline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry1990;147:1008–13.
57.
ShearerSLPetersCPQuaytmanMS. Frequency and correlates of childhood sexual and physical abuse in adult patients with borderline personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry1990;147:1008–13.
58.
LudolphPSWestenDMisleB. The borderline diagnosis in adolescents: Symptoms and developmental history. Am J Psychiatry1990;147:470–6.
59.
WestenDLudolphPMisleBRuffinsSBlockJ. Physical and sexual abuse in adolescent girls with borderline personality disorder. Am J Orthopsychiatry1990;60:55–66.
60.
ByrneCPCernovskyAVelamoorVRCoreteseLLosztynS. A comparison of borderline and schizophrenic patients for childhood life events and parent-child relationships. Can J Psychiatry1990;35:590–5.
61.
ParisJZweig-FrankHGuzderJ. Psychological risk factors for borderline personality disorder in female patients. Compr Psychiatry1994;35:301–5.
62.
ParisJZweig-FrankHGuzderJ. Risk factors for borderline personality in male outpatients. J Nerv Ment Dis1994;182:375–80.
63.
LaporteLGuttmanH. Traumatic childhood experiences as risk factors for borderline and other personality disorders. J Personal Disord1996;10:247–59.
64.
SalzmanJPSalzmanCWolfsonANAlbaneseM. Association between borderline personality structure and history of childhood abuse in adult volunteers. Compr Psychiatry1993;34:254–7.
65.
KrollJ. PTSD/borderlines in therapy. New York: Norton; 1993.
66.
LinksP, editor. Clinical assessment and management of severe personality disorders. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1995.
67.
HermanJL. Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books; 1992.
68.
FossatiAMaddedduFMaffeiC. Childhood sexual abuse and BPD: A metanalysis. J Personal Disord. Forthcoming.
69.
Zweig-FrankHParisJGuzderJ. Psychological risk factors for disssociation and self-mutilation in female patients with personality disorders. Can J Psychiatry1994;39:259–65.
70.
Zweig-FrankHParisJGuzderJ. Dissociation in male patients with borderline and non-borderline personality disordersJ Personal Disord1994;8:210–18.
71.
Zweig-FrankHParisJGuzderJ. Psychological risk factors for self-mutilation in male patients with personality disorders. Can J Psychiatry1994;39:266–8.
72.
ParisJZweig-FrankHBondMGuzderJ. Defense styles, hostility, and psychological risk factors in male patients with personality disordersJ Nerv Ment Dis1996;184:153–8.
73.
KendlerKS. Genetic epidemiology in psychiatry: Taking both genes and environment seriously. Arch Gen Psychiatry1995;52:895–9.
74.
KendlerKSEavesLJ. Models for the joint effect of genotype and environment on liability to psychiatric illness. Am J Psychiatry1986;143:279–89.
75.
KendlerKSNealeMKesslerRHeathAEavesL. A twin study of recent life events and difficulties. Arch Gen Psychiatry1993;50:789–96.
76.
PlominRBergemanC. Genetic influence on environmental measures. Behav Brain Sci1991;14:373–427.
77.
ZanariniMC. Borderline personality as an impulse spectrum disorder. In: ParisJ, editor. Borderline personality disorder: Etiology and treatment. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1993. p 67–86.
78.
RutterMQuintonD. Long-term follow-up of women institutionalized in childhood. British Journal of Developmental Psychology1984;18:225–34.
79.
MonroeSMSimonsAD. Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research. Psychol Bull1991;110:406–25.
80.
RutterM. Nature-nurture integration: The example of antisocial behavior. Am Psychol1997;52:390–8.
