Experiences of (young) women after out of home placement: An examination of personality disorder symptoms through the lens of child maltreatment

Abstract Background Child maltreatment has been associated with the development of various mental health problems, including the development of personality disorders. Objective This study investigated the association between child maltreatment and personality disorder symptoms in 125 women who transitioned out of residential care. Method The Child Trauma Questionnaire was used for the measurement of child maltreatment, and Personality disorder symptoms were measured using the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire 4 + . The Psychological Distress Index was used to control for symptoms of distress. Results A Stepwise regression analysis showed that the majority of the associations were found between self-reported emotional abuse, neglect and personality disorder symptoms. Emotional abuse was significantly related to the Paranoid ( β  = .42, p 0.001), Schizoid ( β  = .18, p 0.05), Schizotypal ( β  = .18, p 0.05), Histrionic ( β  = .22, p 0.05), Avoidant ( β  = .31, p β = 0.31, p β = 0.29, p  = .001), Passive Aggressive ( β = 0.23, p 0.01) and the Depressive personality disorder ( β  = .38, p β  = .32, p 0.001) and the Paranoid Personality Disorder ( β =-0.22, p 0.05). Conclusions The current study underlines the detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment, and in particular the effects of emotional abuse and neglect.