Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Childhood Adversity and the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Borderline Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is both a common and serious psychiatric disorder. Early theories of its etiology were derived from the writings of psychoanalaytic thinkers. However, there have been three generations of research examining the etiology of this disorder. In general, it appears that borderline personality disorder is an admixture of childhood adversity, a vulnerable temperament, and a triggering event—which leads to a full-blown case of BPD.

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 229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 449.99
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

References

  • Adler, G., & Buie, D. H., Jr. (1979). Aloneness and borderline psychopathology: The possible relevance of child development issues. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 60(1), 83–96.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Akiskal, H. S., Chen, S. E., Davis, G. C., Puzantian, V. R., Kashgarian, M., & Bolinger, J. M. (1985). Borderline: An adjective in search of a noun. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 46(2), 41–48.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, S. J. (1979). The relationship of early maternal separation to borderline personality in children and adolescents: A pilot study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136(4A), 424–426.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Browne, A., & Finkelhor, D. (1986). Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of the research. Psychological Bulletin, 99(1), 66–77.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clarkin, J. F., Hull, J. W., Cantor, J., & Sanderson, C. (1993). Borderline personality disorder and personality traits: A comparison of SCID-II BPD and NEO-PI. Psychological Assessment, 5(4), 472–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Distel, M. A., Trull, T. J., Derom, C. A., Thiery, E. W., Grimmer, M. A., Martin, N. G., et al. (2008). Heritability of borderline personality disorder features is similar across three countries. Psychological Medicine, 38(9), 1219–1229.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, H., & Hoffman, N. (1986). Borderline empathy: An empirical investigation. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 27(4), 387–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, H., & Paris, J. (1981). Recollections of family experience in borderline patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38(9), 1031–1034.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, R. L., Mann, L. S., Wise, T. N., & Segall, E. A. (1985). Parental qualities as perceived by borderline personality disorders. The Hillside Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 7(2), 134–140.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grinker, R., Werble, B., & Drye, R. (1968). The borderline syndrome: A behavioral study of ego-functions. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson, J. G., Kerr, J., & Englund, D. W. (1980). The families of borderlines. A comparative study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37(1), 27–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson, J. G., Zanarini, M. C., Choi-Kain, L. W., Mitchell, K. S., Jang, K. L., & Hudson, J. I. (2011). Family study of borderline personality disorder and its sectors of psychopathology. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(7), 753–762.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herman, J. L., Perry, J. C., & van der Kolk, B. A. (1989). Childhood trauma in borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146(4), 490–495.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herman, J., Russell, D., & Trocki, K. (1986). Long-term effects of incestuous abuse in childhood. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143(10), 1293–1296.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopwood, C. J., Thomas, K. M., & Zanarini, M. C. (2012). Hyperbolic temperament and borderline personality disorder. Personality and Mental Health, 6(1), 22–32.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopwood, C. J., & Zanarini, M. C. (2012). The contributions of neuroticism and childhood maltreatment to hyperbolic temperament. Journal of Personality Disorders, 26(5), 815–820.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Links, P. S., Steiner, M., & Huxley, G. (1988). The occurrence of borderline personality disorder in the families of borderline patients. Journal of Personality Disorders, 2, 14–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Links, P. S., Steiner, M., Offord, D. R., & Eppel, A. (1988). Characteristics of borderline personality disorder: A Canadian study. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 33(5), 336–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludolph, P. S., Westen, D., Misle, B., Jackson, A., Wixom, J., & Wiss, F. C. (1990). The borderline diagnosis in adolescents: Symptoms and developmental history. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147(4), 470–476.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahler, M. S. (1971). A study of the separation-individuation process and its possible application to borderline phenomena in the psychoanalytic situation. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 26, 403–424.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Masterson, J. (1972). Treatment of the borderline adolescent: A developmental approach. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A. (1986). Death of a salesman. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogata, S. N., Silk, K. R., Goodrich, S., Lohr, N. E., Westen, D., & Hill, E. M. (1990). Childhood sexual and physical abuse in adult patients with borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147(8), 1008–1013.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paris, J. (1994). Borderline personality disorder: A multidimensional approach. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paris, J., & Frank, H. (1989). Perceptions of parental bonding in borderline patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146(11), 1498–1499.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paris, J., Zweig-Frank, H., & Guzder, J. (1994a). Psychological risk factors for borderline personality disorder in female patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 35(4), 301–305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paris, J., Zweig-Frank, H., & Guzder, J. (1994b). Risk factors for borderline personality in male outpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 182(7), 375–380.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salzman, J. P., Salzman, C., Wolfson, A. N., Albanese, M., Looper, J., Ostacher, M., et al. (1993). Association between borderline personality structure and history of childhood abuse in adult volunteers. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34(4), 254–257.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shearer, S. L., Peters, C. P., Quaytman, M. S., & Ogden, R. L. (1990). Frequency and correlates of childhood sexual and physical abuse histories in adult female borderline inpatients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147(2), 214–216.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skodol, A. E., Buckley, P., & Charles, E. (1983). Is there a characteristic pattern to the treatment history of clinic outpatients with borderline personality? Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171(7), 405–410.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Soldz, S., Budman, S., Demby, A., & Merry, J. (1993). Representation of personality disorders in circumplex and five-factor space: Explorations with a clinical sample. Psychological Assessment, 5(1), 41–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soloff, P. H., & Millward, J. W. (1983). Developmental histories of borderline patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 24(6), 574–588.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Svrakic, D. M., Whitehead, C., Przybeck, T. R., & Cloninger, C. R. (1993). Differential diagnosis of personality disorders by the seven-factor model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50(12), 991–999.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Swartz, M., Blazer, D., George, L., & Winfield, I. (1990). Estimating the prevalence of borderline personality disorder in the community. Journal of Personality Disorders, 4, 257–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torgersen, S., & Alnaes, R. (1992). Differential perception of parental bonding in schizotypal and borderline personality disorder patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 33(1), 34–38.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Torgersen, S., Czajkowski, N., Jacobson, K., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Roysamb, E., Neale, M. C., et al. (2008). Dimensional representations of DSM-IV cluster B personality disorders in a population-based sample of Norwegian twins: A multivariate study. Psychological Medicine, 38(11), 1617–1625.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trull, T. J. (1992). DSM-III-R personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality: An empirical comparison. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101(3), 553–560.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Venta, A., Kenkel-Mikelonis, R., & Sharp, C. (2012). A preliminary study of the relation between trauma symptoms and emerging BPD in adolescent inpatients. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 76(2), 130–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, F. (1977). The family of the borderline patient. In R. Grinker & B. Werble (Eds.), The borderline patient (pp. 158–177). New York: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westen, D., Ludolph, P., Misle, B., Ruffins, S., & Block, J. (1990). Physical and sexual abuse in adolescent girls with borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60(1), 55–66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Barison, L. K., Frankenburg, F. R., Reich, D. B., & Hudson, J. I. (2009). Family history study of the familial coaggregation of borderline personality disorder with axis I and nonborderline dramatic cluster axis II disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 23(4), 357–369.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., & Frankenburg, F. R. (1994). Emotional hypochondriasis, hyperbole, and the borderline patient. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 3(1), 25–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., & Fitzmaurice, G. (2013). Defense mechanisms reported by patients with borderline personality disorder and axis II comparison subjects over 16 years of prospective follow-up: Description and prediction of recovery. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(1), 111–120.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Hennen, J., & Silk, K. R. (2003). The longitudinal course of borderline psychopathology: 6-Year prospective follow-up of the phenomenology of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(2), 274–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Reich, D. B., Marino, M. F., Lewis, R. E., Williams, A. A., et al. (2000). Biparental failure in the childhood experiences of borderline patients. Journal of Personality Disorders, 14(3), 264–273.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Gunderson, J. G., Marino, M. F., Schwartz, E. O., & Frankenburg, F. R. (1988). DSM-III disorders in the families of borderline outpatients. Journal of Personality Disorders, 2(4), 292–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Gunderson, J. G., Marino, M. F., Schwartz, E. O., & Frankenburg, F. R. (1989). Childhood experiences of borderline patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30(1), 18–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Weingeroff, J. L., & Frankenburg, F. R. (2009). Defense mechanisms associated with borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 23(2), 113–121.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Williams, A. A., Lewis, R. E., Reich, R. B., Vera, S. C., Marino, M. F., et al. (1997). Reported pathological childhood experiences associated with the development of borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(8), 1101–1106.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Yong, L., Frankenburg, F. R., Hennen, J., Reich, D. B., Marino, M. F., et al. (2002). Severity of reported childhood sexual abuse and its relationship to severity of borderline psychopathology and psychosocial impairment among borderline inpatients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 190(6), 381–387.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zweig-Frank, H., & Paris, J. (1991). Parents’ emotional neglect and overprotection according to the recollections of patients with borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148(5), 648–651.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zweig-Frank, H., & Paris, J. (1995). The five-factor model of personality in borderline and nonborderline personality disorders. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 40(9), 523–526.

    Google Scholar 

Suggested Reading

  • Zanarini, M. C., & Frankenburg, F. R. (1994). Emotional hypochondriasis, hyperbole, and the borderline patient. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 3(1), 25–36.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Supported by NIMH grants MH47588 and MH62169.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA

    Mary C. Zanarini

  2. McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA

    Michelle M. Wedig

Authors
  1. Mary C. Zanarini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michelle M. Wedig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary C. Zanarini .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    Carla Sharp

  2. Dept. Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    Jennifer L. Tackett

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Zanarini, M.C., Wedig, M.M. (2014). Childhood Adversity and the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder. In: Sharp, C., Tackett, J. (eds) Handbook of Borderline Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0591-1_18

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation