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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
09:55
Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
Associations Between Dissociation and Childhood Trauma in Borderline Personality Disorder and Affective Disorders: A
Philipp Wülfing1, Carsten Spitzer1, Judy Leibowitz2
1Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
|August 9, 2026
Summary
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and affective disorders share similar network structures for trauma and dissociation, differing mainly in symptom severity. This suggests a common underlying psychopathology rather than distinct mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology
- Network Analysis in Mental Health
- Transdiagnostic Models of Psychopathology
Background:
- Childhood trauma and dissociation are linked to borderline personality disorder (BPD).
- It is unclear if these links reflect disorder-specific mechanisms or symptom severity differences within a shared structure.
- Understanding these relationships is crucial for differentiating BPD from other disorders like affective disorders (AD).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the network structure of childhood trauma, dissociation, PTSD symptoms, and distress differs between BPD and AD using network analysis.
- To compare the conditional dependency architecture linking these variables across diagnostic groups.
Main Methods:
- Network analysis using regularized partial correlation models.
- Inclusion of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) subscales, PTSD symptom clusters, and overall distress.
- Network Comparison Tests to assess structural invariance and global strength between matched BPD and AD samples.
Main Results:
- Individuals with BPD reported higher childhood trauma and dissociation than those with AD.
- Despite severity differences, the overall network structure and global connectivity were comparable between BPD and AD groups.
- Bridge centrality analyses revealed similar interconnection patterns across trauma, dissociation, and PTSD domains in both diagnoses.
Conclusions:
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by elevated severity within a shared trauma-dissociation architecture, not a distinct network configuration.
- Findings support a transdiagnostic model where childhood trauma and dissociation are part of a common psychopathological structure.
- Diagnostic differences may reflect magnitude variations rather than altered interrelations, impacting vulnerability mechanisms and treatment targets.
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