Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Childhood Antecedents of Personality Disorders

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

  • 1286 Accesses

Abstract

Early life influences have for long been suspected to play a crucial role in shaping adult life. A significant body of literature now supports the effect of early life influences on adult medical conditions such as obesity and heart disease. In psychiatry too, evidence now suggests a similar phenomenon. This is especially true for personality disorders which are now seen as a continuity of the patterns of tendency to feel and behave observed in childhood. A number of factors ranging from psychological to socio-economic and biological have been postulated as causal factors, mediating factors or simply associated factors. The present chapter attempts to discuss some of the basic theoretical foundations, the commonly cited factors involved, and the utility and implications for clinical practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

APA:

American Psychiatric Association

COMT:

Catechol-O-methyl transferase

DOHaD:

Developmental origins of health and disease

MAO A:

Monoamine oxidase

WHO:

World Health Organization

References

  • Allport, G. (1963). Pattern and growth in personality. Pennsylvania: Harcourt College Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). The diagnostic and statistical manual (5th ed.). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anglin, D. M., Cohen, P. R., & Chen, H. (2008). Duration of early maternal separation and prediction of schizotypal symptoms from early adolescence to midlife. Schizophrenia Research, 103, 143–150.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Basaglu, C., Oner, O., Ates, A., Algul, A., Bez, Y., Cetin, M., et al. (2011). Synaptosomal associated protein 25 gene polymorphisms and antisocial personality disorder: association with temperament and psychopathy. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56, 341–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T. P., Klein, D. N., Crowell, S. E., Derbidge, C., & Gatzke-Kopp, L. (2009). Multifinality in the development of personality disorders: a Biology x Sex x Environment interaction model of antisocial and borderline traits. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 735–770.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, D. W., Caspi, A., Arseneault, L., Bleidorn, W., Fonagy, P., Goodman, M., et al. (2012). Etiological features of borderline personality related characteristics in a birth cohort of 12-year-old children. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 251–265.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, M., Jones, P. B., & Murray, R. M. (2002). Obstetric complications and schizophrenia: historical and meta-analytic review. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 1080–1092.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Newman, D. L., & Silva, P. A. (1996). Behavioral observations at age 3 years predict adult psychiatric disorders. Longitudinal evidence from a birth cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry, 53, 1033–1039.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Champagne, F. A. (2008). Epigenetic mechanisms and the transgenerational effects of maternal care. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 29, 386–397.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chanen, A. M., Berk, M., & Thompson, K. (2016). Integrating early intervention for borderline personality disorder and mood disorders. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Epub ahead of print.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R., & Svrakic, D. M. (2009). Personality disorders. In B. J. Sadock, V. A. Sadock, & P. Ruiz (Eds.), Kaplan and Sadock’s comprehensive textbook of psychiatry (9th ed., pp. 2197–2240). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wikins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P., Chen, H., Kasen, S., Johnson, J. G., Crawford, T., & Gordon, K. (2005). Adolescent cluster A personality disorder symptoms, role assumption in the transition to adulthood, and resolution or persistence of symptoms. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 549–568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, T. N., Cohen, P. R., Chen, H., Anglin, D. M., & Ehrensaft, M. (2009). Early maternal separation and the trajectory of borderline personality disorder symptoms. Developmental Psychopathology, 21, 1013–1030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, K., Chan, G., Gelernter, J., Arias, A. J., Anton, R. F., Poling, J., et al. (2011). 5-HTTLPR as a potential moderator of the effects of adverse childhood experiences on risk of antisocial personality disorder. Psychiatric Genetics, 21, 240–248.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fazel, S., Bakiyeva, L., Cnattingius, S., Grann, M., Hultman, C. M., Lichtenstein, P., et al. (2012). Perinatal risk factors in offenders with severe personality disorder: A population-based investigation. Journal of Personality Disorders, 26, 737–750.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Y., Raine, A., Chan, F., Venables, P. H., & Mednick, S. A. (2010a). Early maternal and paternal bonding, childhood physical abuse and adult psychopathic personality. Psychological Medicine, 40, 1007–1016.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Y., Raine, A., Venables, P. H., Dawson, M. E., & Mednick, S. A. (2010b). Association of poor childhood fear conditioning and adult crime. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 56–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, J. (2003). Early identification of individuals at risk for antisocial personality disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, Supplement, 44, S11–S14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. G., Cohen, P., Chen, H., Kasen, S., & Brook, J. S. (2006). Parenting behaviors associated with risk for offspring personality disorder during adulthood. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 579–587.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kantojärvi, L., Joukamaa, M., Miettunen, J., Läksy, K., Herva, A., Karvonen, J. T., et al. (2008). Childhood family structure and personality disorders in adulthood. European Psychiatry, 23, 205–211.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kasen, S., Cohen, P., Skodol, A. E., Johnson, J. G., Smailes, E., & Brook, J. S. (2001). Childhood depression and adult personality disorder: alternative pathways of continuity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58(3), 231–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kemppainen, L., Mäkikyrö, T., Jokelainen, J., Nieminen, P., Järvelin, M. R., & Isohanni, M. (2000). Is grand multiparity associated with offsprings’ hospital-treated mental disorders? A 28-year follow-up of the North Finland 1966 birth cohort. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 35, 104–108.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kubota, T., Miyake, K., Hariya, N., & Mochizuki, K. (2015). Understanding the epigenetics of neurodevelopmental disorders and DOHaD. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 6, 96–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuja-Halkola, R., Pawitan, Y., D’Onofrio, B. M., LÃ¥ngström, N., & Lichtenstein, P. (2012). Advancing paternal age and offspring violent offending: A sibling-comparison study. Developmental Psychopathology, 24, 739–753.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahey, B. B., Loeber, R., Burke, J. D., & Applegate, B. (2005). Predicting future antisocial personality disorder in males from a clinical assessment in childhood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 389–399.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lahti, J., Räikkönen, K., Heinonen, K., Pesonen, A. K., Kajantie, E., Forsén, T., et al. (2008). Body size at birth and socio-economic status in childhood: implications for Cloninger’s psychobiological model of temperament at age 60. Psychiatry Research, 160, 167–174.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mäkikyrö, T., Isohanni, M., Moring, J., Hakko, H., Hovatta, I., & Lönnqvist, J. (1998). Accuracy of register-based schizophrenia diagnoses in a genetic study. European Psychiatry, 13, 57–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mervielde, I., De Clercq, B., De Fruyt, F., & Van Leuuwe, K. (2005). Temperament, personality, and developmental psychopathology as childhood antecedents of personality disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 19, 171–201.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Buckholtz, J. W., Kolachana, B., Hariri, A. R., Pezawas, L., Blasi, G., et al. (2006). Neural mechanisms of genetic risk for impulsivity and violence in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 6269–6274.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mhillaj, E., Morgese, M. G., & Trabace, L. (2015). Early life and oxidative stress in psychiatric disorders: What can we learn from animal models? Current Pharmaceutical Design, 21, 1396–1403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitrou, F., Gaudie, J., Lawrence, D., Silburn, S. R., Stanley, F. J., & Zubrick, S. R. (2010). Antecedents of hospital admission for deliberate self-harm from a 14-year follow-up study using data-linkage. BMC Psychiatry, 10, 82.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Moilanen, K., Jokelainen, J., Jones, P. B., Hartikainen, A. L., Järvelin, M. R., & Isohanni, M. (2010). Deviant intrauterine growth and risk of schizophrenia: A 34-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. Schizophrenia Research, 124, 223–230.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, S. E. (2016). Early life nutritional programming of health and disease in Gambia. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 7, 123–131.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mordre, M., Groholt, B., Kjelsberg, E., Sandstad, B., & Myhre, A. M. (2011). The impact of ADHD and conduct disorder in childhood on adult delinquency: A 30 years follow-up study using official crime records. BMC Psychiatry, 11, 57.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pesonen, A. K., Räikkönen, K., Heinonen, K., Kajantie, E., Forsén, T., & Eriksson, J. G. (2008). Reproductive traits following a parent-child separation trauma during childhood: a natural experiment during World War II. American Journal of Human Biology, 20, 345–351.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pesonen, A. K., Räikkönen, K., Kajantie, E., Heinonen, K., Strandberg, T. E., & Järvenpää, A. L. (2006). Fetal programming of temperamental negative affectivity among children born healthy at term. Developmental Psychobiology, 48, 633–643.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pesonen, A. K., Räikkönen, K., Lano, A., Peltoniemi, O., Hallman, M., & Kari, M. A. (2009). Antenatal betamethasone and fetal growth in prematurely born children: Implications for temperament traits at the age of 2 years. Pediatrics, 123, e31–e37.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piehler, T. F., & Dishion, T. J. (2008). Interpersonal dynamics within adolescent friendships: Dyadic mutuality, deviant talk, and patterns of antisocial behavior. Child Development, 78, 1611–1624.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., Boergers, J., Spirito, A., Little, T. D., & Grapentine, W. L. (2000). Peer functioning, family dysfunction, and psychological symptoms in a risk factor model for adolescent inpatients’ suicidal ideation severity. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 392–405.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pyhälä, R., Räikkönen, K., Pesonen, A. K., Heinonen, K., Hovi, P., Eriksson, J. G., et al. (2009). Behavioral inhibition and behavioral approach in young adults with very low birth weight? The Helsinki study of very low birth weight adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 106–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reti, I. M., Xu, J. Z., Yanofski, J., McKibben, J., Uhart, M., Cheng, Y. J., et al. (2011). Monoamine oxidase A regulates antisocial personality in whites with no history of physical abuse. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 52, 188–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudd, M. D., Joiner, T. E., & Rumzek, H. (2004). Childhood diagnoses and later risk for multiple suicide attempts. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 34, 113–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salekin, R. T. (2016). Psychopathology in childhood: Toward better informing the DSM-5 and ICD-11 conduct disorder specifiers. Personality Disorders, 7, 180–191.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Samuel, D. B., & Widiger, T. A. (2008). A meta-analytic review of the relationships between the five factor model and DSM-IV-TR personality disorders: a facet level analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1326–1342.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Stepp, S. D., Hallquist, M. N., Morse, J. Q., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2011). Multimethod investigation of interpersonal functioning in borderline personality disorder. Personality Disorders, 2, 175–192.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Templeton, A. (2006). Population genetics and microevolutionary theory. New Jersey: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thapar, A., Langley, K., Fowler, T., Rice, F., Turic, D., Whittinger, N., et al. (2005). Catechol O-methyltransferase gene variant and birth weight predict early-onset antisocial behavior in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 1275–1278.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tieman, W., van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2005). Psychiatric disorders in young adult intercountry adoptees: an epidemiological study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 592–598.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waylen, A., Stallard, N., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2008). Parenting and health in mid-childhood: A longitudinal study. European Journal of Public Health, 18, 300–305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Widom, C. S., Czaja, S. J., & Paris, J. (2009). A prospective investigation of borderline personality disorder in abused and neglected children followed up into adulthood. Journal of Personality Disorders, 23, 433–446.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1992). International classification of diseases (10th ed.). Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, M., & Spitzer, R. L. (2009). Psychiatric classification. In B. J. Sadock, V. A. Sadock, & P. Ruiz (Eds.), Kaplan and Sadock’s comprehensive textbook of psychiatry (9th ed., pp. 1108–1139). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wikins.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 110029, India

    Pratap Sharan & Sathya Prakash

Authors
  1. Pratap Sharan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sathya Prakash
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pratap Sharan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Chandigarh, India

    Savita Malhotra

  2. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Serv., Centre for Interventional Paediatric(CIPPRD) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Serv., London, United Kingdom

    Paramala Santosh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer India

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sharan, P., Prakash, S. (2016). Childhood Antecedents of Personality Disorders. In: Malhotra, S., Santosh, P. (eds) Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3619-1_15

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation