The role of psychological risk factors in recovery from borderline personality disorder.

This study examined the role of psychological risk factors in recovery from borderline personality disorder (BPD). A lifetime BPD group (n = 13) was composed of female subjects who had met the criteria for BPD in the past but no longer did so in the present. The comparison group was a sample with active BPD (n = 26). Psychological risk factors were measured by a developmental interview, which scored childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and its parameters, childhood physical abuse (PA), and separation or loss, as well as by the Parental Bonding Index (PBI). Subjects from the active BPD group showed a trend toward higher rates of CSA, and had a significantly higher CSA severity score. The results suggest that a history of severe CSA may adversely influence recovery from BPD.