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The Role of Childhood Trauma in Differences in Affective Instability in Those With Personality Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Marianne Goodman ,
Daniel S. Weiss ,
Harold Koenigsberg ,
Vladimir Kotlyarevsky ,
Antonia S. New ,
Vivian Mitropoulou ,
Jeremy M. Silverman ,
Karen O'Flynn  and
Larry J. Siever
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Abstract

Background:

This study examined the relationship of self-reported histories of childhood trauma to measures of affective instability in a sample of unmedicated outpatients with various personality disorders (n=174).

Methods:

Childhood trauma was measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Affective instability comprises at least two dimensions: affective lability, assessed using the Affective Lability Scale, and affective intensity, assessed using the Affective Intensity Measure.

Results:

A history of emotional abuse was the only trauma variable that significantly correlated with the affect measures in the total sample (r=.21–.30). More fine-grained analyses revealed that the relationship of emotional abuse and affective instability measures varied as a function of both gender and personality disorder type. In subjects with borderline personality disorder, the correlation for emotional abuse was greatly attenuated for both Affective Lability Scale (r=.10) and Affective Intensity Measure (r=.15) total scores.

Conclusion:

This suggests that nontrauma-related factors may be more predominant in affective dyscontrol in individuals with borderline personality disorder.

Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 8 , Issue 10: Personality Disorders , October 2003 , pp. 763 - 770
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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