This study investigated the relationship between childhood abuse and personality disorder symptoms in a nonclinical sample of college males (N = 584, mean age = 28.8 years). Childhood sexual and physical abuse and personality disorder (PD) symptoms, among other variables, were assessed using self-report measures. Abuse histories were categorized into no abuse, sexual abuse only, physical abuse only, and both types of abuse. Also, a dimension of severity was measured by tallying, for sexual and physical abuse scales separately, the number of items meeting abuse criteria. Multivariate analyses indicate that even when statistically controlling for possible confounding variables, childhood abuse histories are associated with greater levels of adult symptomatology. The severity dimension predicted statistically significant, although clinically negligible, portions of the variance for three PD scales.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Altschuler, L. (1997). Mediating factors in the cycle of violence: Empathy in male survivors of child abuse. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Massachusetts at Boston.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (APA) . (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., revised). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
Boudewyn, A. C. , & Liem, J. H. (1995). Childhood sexual abuse as a precursor to depression and self-destructive behavior in adulthood.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 445-459.
4.
Brewin, C. R. , Andrews, B., & Gotlib, I. H. (1993). Psychopathology and early experience: A reappraisal of retrospective reports.Psychological Bulletin, 113, 82-98.
5.
Briere, J. N. (1992). Child abuse trauma: Theory and treatment of the lasting effects.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
6.
Briere, J. N. , & Zaidi, L. Y. (1989). Sexual abuse histories and sequelae in female psychiatric emergency room patients.American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 1602-1606.
7.
Collings, S. J. (1995). The long-term effects of contact and noncontact forms of child sexual abuse in a sample of university men.Child Abuse & Neglect, 19, 1-6.
8.
DiTomasso, M. J. , & Routh, D. K. (1993). Recall of abuse in childhood and three measures of dissociation.Child Abuse & Neglect, 17, 477-485.
9.
Dolan, B. , Evans, C., & Norton, K. (1995). Multiple Axis-II diagnoses of personality disorder.British Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 107-112.
10.
Epstein, J. N. , Saunders, B. E., & Kilpatrick, L. M. (1997). Predicting PTSD in women with a history of childhood rape.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 573-588.
11.
Fergusson, D. M. , & Lynskey, M. T. (1997). Physical punishment/maltreatment during childhood and adjustment in young adulthood.Child Abuse & Neglect, 21, 617-630.
12.
Finkelhor, D. , Hotaling, G. T., Lewis, I. A., & Smith, C. (1989). Sexual abuse and its relationship to later sexual satisfaction, marital status, religion, and attitudes.Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 4, 379-399.
13.
Fromuth, M. E. , & Burkhart, B. R. (1989). Long-term psychological correlates of childhood sexual abuse in two samples of college men.Child Abuse & Neglect, 13, 533-542.
14.
Hare, R. D. , Hart, S. D., & Harpur, T. J. (1991). Psychopathy and the DSM-IV criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 391-398.
15.
Hathaway, S. R. , & McKinley, J. C. (1991). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2: Manual for administration and scoring.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
16.
Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery.New York: HarperCollins.
17.
Herman, J. L. , Perry, C., & van der Kolk, B. A. (1989). Childhood trauma in borderline personality disorder.American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 490-494.
18.
Holahan, C. J. , & Moos, R. H. (1982). Social support and adjustment: Predictive benefits of social climate indices.American Journal of Community Psychology, 10, 403-415.
19.
Hopper, J. (1997). Child abuse and masculine gender socialization: A study of emotional incompetencies associated with perpetration. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts at Boston.
20.
Hyler, S. E. , & Rieder, R. O. (1987). PDQ-R: Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised.New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute.
21.
Hyler, S. E. , Rieder, R. O., Williams, J.B.W., Spitzer, R. L., Lyons, M., & Hendler, J. (1989). A comparison of clinical and self-report diagnoses of DSM-III personality disorders in 552 patients.Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30, 170-178.
22.
Hyler, S. E. , Skodol, A. E., Kellman, H. D., Oldham, J. M., & Rosnick, L. (1990). Validity of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised: Comparison with two structured interviews.American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1043-1048.
23.
Hyler, S. E. , Skodol, A. E., Oldham, J. M., Kellman, H. D., & Doidge, N. (1992). Validity of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised: A replication in an outpatient sample.Comprehensive Psychiatry, 33, 73-77.
24.
Johnson, J. G. , & Bornstein, R. F. (1992). Utility of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised in a nonclinical population.Journal of Personality Disorders, 6, 450-457.
25.
Johnson, J. G. , Bornstein, R. F., & Krukonis, A. B. (1992). Defense styles as predictors of personality disorder symptomatology.Journal of Personality Disorders, 6, 408-416.
26.
Johnson, J. G. , Bornstein, R. F., & Sherman, M. F. (1996). A modified scoring algorithm for the PDQ-R: Psychiatric symptomatology and substance abuse in adolescents with personality disorders.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 56, 76-89
27.
Lindsay, K. A. , & Widiger, T. A. (1995). Sex and gender bias in self-report personality disorder inventories: Item analyses of the MCMI-II, MMPI, and PDQ-R.Journal of Personality Assessment, 65, 1-20.
28.
Lisak, D. (1994). The psychological impact of sexual abuse: Content analysis of interviews with male survivors.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7, 525-548.
29.
Lisak, D. , Conklin, A., Hopper, J., Miller, P., & Smith, B. (1997). The Abuse-Perpetration Inventory: Development of a valid assessment instrument for research on the cycle of violence. Manuscript submitted for publication.
30.
Lisak, D. , Hopper, J., & Song, P. (1996). Factors in the cycle of violence: Gender rigidity and emotional constriction.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 721-743.
31.
Lisak, D. , & Luster, L. (1994). Educational, occupational, and relationship histories of men who were sexually and/or physically abused as children.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7, 507-523.
32.
Livesley, W. J. , & Jackson, D. N. (1991). Construct validity and classification of personality disorders. In J. M. Oldham (Ed.), Personality disorders: new perspectives on diagnostic validity (pp. 3-22). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
33.
Luntz, B. K. , & Widom, C. S. (1994). Antisocial personality disorder in abused and neglected children grown up.American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 670-674.
34.
Malinosky-Rummell, R. , & Hansen, D. J. (1993). Long-term consequences of childhood physical abuse.Psychological Bulletin, 114, 68-79.
35.
Moos, R. H. , & Moos, B. S. (1984). Family Environment Scale Manual.Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
36.
Norden, K. A. , Klein, D. N., Donaldson, S. K., Pepper, C. M., & Klein, L. M. (1995). Reports of the early home environment in DSM-III-R personality disorders.Journal of Personality Disorders, 9, 213-223.
37.
Norusis, M. J. (1990). SPSS base systems user's guide.Chicago: SPSS.
38.
Ogata, S. N. , Silk, D. R., Goodrich, S., Lhor, N. E., Westen, D., & Hill, E. M. (1990). Childhood sexual and physical abuse in adult patients with borderline personality disorder.American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1008-1013.
39.
Paulhus, D. L. (1984). Two-component measures of socially desirable responding.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 596-609.
40.
Peters, D. K. , & Range, L. M. (1995). Childhood sexual abuse and current suicidality in college women and men.Child Abuse & Neglect, 19, 335-341.
41.
Reich, J. H. (1989). Update on instruments to measure DSM-III and DSM-III-R personality disorders.Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 177, 366-370.
42.
Rosen, K. V. , & Tallis, F. (1995). Investigation into the relationship between personality traits and OCD.Behavior Research and Therapy, 33, 445-450.
43.
Saunders, E. A. , & Arnold, F. (1993). A critique of conceptual and treatment approaches to borderline psychopathology in light of findings about childhood abuse.Psychiatry, 56, 188-203.
44.
Shea, M. T. (1995). Interrelationships among categories of personality disorders. In W. J. Livesley (Ed.), The DSM-IV personality disorders (pp. 397-406). New York: Guilford.
45.
Sines, J. O. (1984). Relations between the Family Environment Scale (FES) and the MMPI.Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 6-10.
46.
Smith, B. (1997). Traumagenic dynamics as mediators of sexual abuse impact in adult males: An exploration of Finkelhor and Browne's model. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts at Boston.
47.
Trickett, P. K. , & McBride-Chang, C. (1995). The developmental impact of different forms of child abuse and neglect.Developmental Review, 15, 311-337.
48.
Vrana, T. W. , & Lauterbach, D. (1994). Prevalence of traumatic events and post-traumatic psychological symptoms in a nonclinical sample of college students.Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7, 289-302.
49.
Widiger, T. A. (1993). The DSM-III-R categorical personality disorder diagnoses: A critique and an alternative.Psychological Inquiry, 4, 75-90.
50.
Widiger, T. A. , & Corbitt, E. M. (1995). Antisocial Personality Disorder. In W. J. Livesley (Ed.), The DSM-IV personality disorders (pp. 103-126). New York: Guilford.
51.
Wierzbicki, M. , & Gorman, J. L. (1995). Correspondence between students' scores on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II and Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised.Psychological Reports, 77, 1079-1082.
