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This study compares the history of traumatic childhood experiences of a population of women with borderline personality disorder and that of women with other Axis II disorders. We reviewed 751 psychiatric records of female patients aged 16 to 45 years with a discharge diagnosis of personality disorder and examined background variables of loss; verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, having witnessed domestic violence; and parental drug or alcohol abuse. Women with borderline personality disorder experienced more losses and abuses than women with other types of personality disorder and, when abused, suffered more combined abuse at the hands of multiple perpetrators. Compared with 74% of the women with other personality disorders, over 93% of the borderlines experienced at least one form of separation or abuse in childhood. Logistic regression demonstrated that the most important risk factors for the development of borderline personality disorder were the three forms of abuse and a history of adoption.
Laporte et al. (Sun,) studied this question.