Childhood Precursors of Adult Borderline Personality Disorder Features: A Longitudinal Study
Abstract This study identifies childhood personality traits that are precursors of adult Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features. In a longitudinal study, childhood personality traits were assessed at age 11 (N 100) using the California Child Q set (CCQ: Block and Block, 1980) A number of these Q items were found to be significantly correlated (p 0.001) with a prototype based measure of BPD features at age 23. Factor analysis of these Q items suggested that they could be characterized by two underlying personality dimensions: Impulsivity and Nonconformity/Aggression. The findings thus provide evidence that childhood personality traits predict adult BPD features. Identifying such childhood precursors provides an opportunity for early intervention.
The Journal of nervous and mental disease