Citation

Herman JL, Perry JC, van der Kolk BA. Am. J. Psychiatry 1989; 146(4): 490-495.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital, Mass.

Comment In:

Am J Psychiatry 1989;146(10):1358-9.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2929750

Abstract

Subjects with borderline personality disorder (N = 21) or borderline traits (N = 11) and nonborderline subjects with closely related diagnoses (N = 23) were interviewed in depth regarding experiences of major childhood trauma. Significantly more borderline subjects (81%) gave histories of such trauma, including physical abuse (71%), sexual abuse (68%), and witnessing serious domestic violence (62%); abuse histories were less common in those with borderline traits and least common in the subjects with no borderline diagnosis. These results demonstrate a strong association between a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and a history of abuse in childhood.

Language: en