Abusive relationships in families of women with borderline personality disorder, anorexia nervosa and a control group.

In a group of intact families, we examined the rates and parameters of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse in 35 women with borderline personality disorder (BPD), 34 women with anorexia nervosa (AN), and 33 women without a clinical history (NC); their experience of multiple abuse and its correlation with their SCL-90-R scores; and their reports of abuse of their siblings. Corroboration of abuse was obtained from some parents in each group. Women with BPD suffered more intrafamilial verbal and physical abuse. Whereas AN and NC women experienced relatively rare single events of extrafamilial sexual abuse at an older age, those with BPD suffered repeated intrafamilial sexual abuse at a younger age and also suffered more multiple abuse. All multiply abused women had more psychopathology. Siblings were reported abused in the same proportions as subjects; many parents of BPDs corroborated their daughters' reports of all three forms of abuse.