Childhood Trauma and Dissociative Experiences in Female Borderline Disorder With and Without Substance Dependence

Objectives:To detect differences between female borderline personality disorder (BPD) with and without substance dependence as regards childhood trauma and dissociation.Methods:In total, 40 female BPD patients [diagnosed by structured clinical interview of the diagnostic and statistical manual fourth edition (SCID) II] were compared with 40 female BPD patients with substance dependence (diagnosed by SCID I and SCID II) attending the outpatient clinic in Kasr Al-Ainy hospital (Tools: Childhood Traumatic Questionnaire, Borderline Personality Disorder Severity index, and Dissociative Experience Scale).Results:BPD patients had more childhood trauma and dissociative experiences than BPD with substance dependence patients. There was a statistically significant correlation between childhood trauma and dissociative experiences in BPD patients, whereas there was no statistically significant correlation between childhood trauma and dissociative experiences apart from sexual abuse in BPD with substance dependence patients.Conclusions:The findings have clinical implications for the management of female BPD with and without substance dependence.