Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 42, Issue 3, September 2011, Pages 493-508
Behavior Therapy

Exploring the Association Between Emotional Abuse and Childhood Borderline Personality Features: The Moderating Role of Personality Traits

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2010.11.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Most of the extant literature on borderline personality disorder has focused on the course, consequences, and correlates of this disorder among adults. However, little is known about childhood borderline personality (BP) features, or the factors associated with the emergence of BP pathology in childhood. A greater understanding of childhood BP features and associated risk factors has important implications for the development of primary and secondary prevention programs. The goal of the present study was to examine the interrelationships among two BP-relevant traits (affective dysfunction and impulsivity), a BP-relevant environmental stressor (emotional abuse), and BP features in a sample of 225 children aged 11 to 14 years. Results provide support for the role of both trait vulnerabilities and environmental stressors in childhood BP features. Further, findings highlight the moderating role of affective dysfunction in the relationship between emotional abuse and childhood BP features.

Section snippets

Importance of Borderline Personality Symptoms in Childhood

Most research on the factors associated with childhood BP pathology has used modified criteria corresponding to adult BPD diagnostic criteria to diagnose BPD in children (Goldman et al., 1992, Greenman et al., 1986, Guzder et al., 1999, Guzder et al., 1996, Paris et al., 1999). Despite providing evidence that the environmental and neuropsychological factors associated with a BPD diagnosis in childhood are the same as those associated with BPD in adults (Goldman et al., 1992, Guzder et al., 1996

Participants

This study employed data from a sample of 277 participant dyads (children aged 9 to 13 at initial enrollment and their parents/legal guardians) participating in a larger prospective study of behavioral, environmental, and genetic mechanisms of risk for HIV-related risk behaviors in youth. Participants were a convenience sample of children and their caregivers recruited through media outreach in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, as well as study advertisements distributed to area

Variable Transformations and Calculations

Skewness and kurtosis of all variables were within the acceptable range of normality (i.e., skewness < 3 and kurtosis < 10; see Kline, 1998). Therefore, variable transformations were not required. However, before creating the interaction terms, the affective dysfunction, impulsivity, and emotional abuse variables were centered (i.e., put in deviation score form), so that the mean of each variable was 0 (see Aiken & West, 1991). These standardized scores were then used to create the interaction

Discussion

Despite the growing body of research examining the prognosis, course, consequences, and correlates of BPD in adults, little is known about the emergence of BP pathology in youth, or the factors associated with childhood BP features (Crick et al., 2005, Paris, 2005). Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine the interrelations among two BPD-relevant personality traits (i.e., affective dysfunction and impulsivity), emotional abuse (an environmental stressor previously found to be

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant R01 DA18647, awarded to C. W. Lejuez.

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