The comorbidity of borderline personality disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder: revisiting the prevalence and associations in a general population sample

Background The comorbidity of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is frequent, yet not well understood. The influence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in the development of this comorbidity has been a focus of prior clinical studies, but empirical evidence to generalize this focus to the broader population is lacking. Primary aims of the present study included evaluation of: (a) the association of this comorbidity with decrements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and (b) the importance of CSA as a predictive factor for this comorbidity in a general population sample.