Background
People with borderline personality disorder are 13 times more likely to report childhood abuse than non-clinical controls (Porter et al. 2019), with 90% of inpatients reporting previous emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the long-term consequences of trauma, culminating in ICD-11 introducing the new diagnosis of ‘Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ (CPTSD). The prevalence of CPTSD among people with personality disorder has not been established.
Methods
As part of an ongoing randomised trial of psychological support for people with personality disorder (ISRCTN13918289), we are examining the prevalence of CPTSD among 310 people who are aged 18 or over, have probable personality disorder and are in contact with mental health services in England. We are assessing CPTSD using the International Trauma Questionnaire (Cloitre et al. 2018) and personality disorder using the Standardised Assessment of Personality – Abbreviated Scale (Moran et al. 2003), the Personality Assessment Questionnaire for ICD-11 personality trait domains (Kim et al. 2021) and the Structured Clinical Interview for Axis II Disorders (First et al. 1994).
Results
Data collection is ongoing. Data will be analysed in September 2023. We will present data on the prevalence of CPTSD among those with different trait domains and those who meet criteria for the borderline pattern. Clinical characteristics and service use among people with personality disorder who do and do not meet criteria for CPTSD will be compared.
Interpretation
The results of this analysis will be discussed in the context of the current debate about language used to describe the mental health of people who experience interpersonal problems and negative affect in the years following exposure to childhood trauma. Implications for treatment will also be discussed.