Citation

Johnson DM, Sheahan TC, Chard KM. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2003; 12(2): 19-39.

Affiliation

Brown University School of Medicine, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15105082

Abstract

Using a treatment-seeking sample of adult female survivors of childhood sexual abuse, the relationships between coping strategies, personality disorders (PD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were explored. A variety of PDs were found to exist in this population, with avoidant, antisocial, dependent PDs having higher frequencies than borderline PD. Avoidant coping and PTSD severity significantly correlated with many of these PDs. PTSD severity and avoidant coping were also significantly correlated. Additionally, women with PTSD displayed higher rates of avoidant and dependent PDs, as well as more avoidant coping, than did women without PTSD. Results support a more complex conceptualization of the trauma-related symptoms that occur in adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse that incorporate the relationships between avoidant coping, personality disorders, and PTSD.

Language: en