Risk factors associated with the dissociative experiences of borderline patients

The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors associated wit h the dissociative symptomatology of borderline patients. The Dissociative Experiences Scale-a 28-item self-report measure that has well documented re liability and validity-was administered to 290 criteria-defined borderline patients and 72 axis II comparison subjects. Semistructured interviews pert aining to difficult childhood experiences and adult experiences of being a victim of violence were administered to these patients blind to diagnostic status. In the sample of borderline patients alone, multiple regression ana lyses revealed that four risk factors were found to be significantly associ ated with the level of dissociation reported by these 290 patients: inconsi stent treatment by a caretaker, sexual abuse by a caretaker, witnessing sex ual violence as a child, and adult rape history. In the combined sample of axis II patients, the borderline diagnosis joined these four "traumatic" fa ctors as a significant predictor of the overall level of dissociation repor ted by these 362 personality-disordered inpatients. The results of this stu dy suggest that both sexual trauma and something intrinsic to the borderlin e diagnosis itself are risk factors for dissociative phenomena among border line patients.