Dissociation in Male Patients With Borderline and Non-Borderline Personality Disorders

The purpose of this study was to examine dissociation in males with borderline and nonborderline personality disorders, in relation both to diagnosis and to psychological risk factors. A sample of 121 men with personality disorders was divided into a borderline group from a clinic (n = 32), a borderline group obtained by advertisement (n = 29), and a nonborderline group (n = 60). Dissociation was measured by scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and by scores on three factors derived from the DES. The psychological risk factors that were examined included childhood sexual abuse and its parameters, physical abuse and its parameters, separation or loss, and abnormal parental bonding. The results showed that DES scores were higher in both borderline groups. Sexual and physical abuse were not related to any form of dissociation, and none of the other psychological risk factors was related to either DES or the DES factors above and beyond diagnosis. The findings therefore do not support theories that trauma accounts for the dissociative phenomena associated with BPD.