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Published on: March 8, 2018
Being bullied in childhood: correlations with borderline personality in adulthood
Randy A Sansone1, Charlene Lam, Michael W Wiederman
1Psychiatry and Internal Medicine at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, USA. randy.sansone@khnetwork.org
Objective:
This study was designed to explore correlations between a history of being bullied in childhood and borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adulthood, several externalizing behaviors, and mental health care utilization.
Method:
Using a cross-sectional consecutive sample of internal medicine outpatients (N = 414), we examined the relationship between history of being bullied in childhood and 2 measures of BPD: the borderline personality scale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 and the Self-Harm Inventory. We also explored whether having ever been bullied was related to a number of externalizing behaviors (eg, rage reactions, road rage, excessive spending, alcohol and substance misuse, binge eating) as well as greater mental health care utilization.
Results:
In this study, a history of being bullied in childhood demonstrated statistically significant correlations with both measures of BPD as well as a number of externalizing behaviors and the measures for mental health care utilization.
Conclusions:
A history of being bullied in childhood demonstrates a positive correlation with BPD in adulthood, externalizing behaviors, and mental health care utilization. Although this does not necessarily imply causality, the nature of this relationship warrants further investigation.
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