Dissociative Experiences, Borderline Personality Disorder Features, and Childhood Trauma: Generating Hypotheses from...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Network Analysis

Background:

• Dissociation is a complex phenomenon seen in various mental disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD) and non-clinical groups.
• Childhood trauma significantly influences the development of dissociation and BPD.
• The intricate relationships between dissociative symptoms, BPD traits, and trauma history require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the associations between self-reported dissociation, BPD features, and childhood trauma.
• To utilize a graph-theoretical network analysis approach to understand these multivariate interrelations.

Main Methods:

• Online data collection from international mental health platforms and research sites.
• Inclusion of 921 participants (77.4% female), with 40% reporting pathological dissociation.
• Assessment using established scales: Dissociative Experiences Scale, Personality Assessment Inventory Borderline Features Scale, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.
• Analysis via partial correlation network.

Main Results:

• Positive bivariate correlations were observed between all assessed variables.
• After accounting for mutual influences, dissociation showed strong connections to BPD features (rp = .028–.126).
• A unique, albeit slight, association was found between dissociation and physical neglect (rp = .044).

Conclusions:

• Findings confirm significant associations between dissociative experiences and BPD features.
• Childhood trauma is a key factor in the development of dissociation and BPD, but may not fully account for their present co-occurrence.
• Further prospective research is necessary to elucidate causal pathways and contributing factors to dissociation and its link with BPD.