Current widely-accepted conceptualizations regarding borderline personality disorder (BPD) profess that trauma is not required in the etiology of BPD and place a significant focus on biological predispositions. This review sought to evaluate the current paradigms regarding BPD and examine whether trauma may be the most significant contributing factor in the development of BPD. Studies on developmental trauma (including psychological maltreatment) and attachment were examined. These studies appear to strongly support the idea that when disrupted attachment and psychological maltreatment are taken into consideration, trauma does appear to be both necessary and sufficient as primary etiological factors in the development of BPD. As such, a reconceptualization of BPD as a trauma disorder may be beneficial in both destigmatizing BPD and for more effective treatments.
","abstract_html":"<p>Current widely-accepted conceptualizations regarding borderline personality disorder (BPD) profess that trauma is not required in the etiology of BPD and place a significant focus on biological predispositions. This review sought to evaluate the current paradigms regarding BPD and examine whether trauma may be the most significant contributing factor in the development of BPD. Studies on developmental trauma (including psychological maltreatment) and attachment were examined. These studies appear to strongly support the idea that when disrupted attachment and psychological maltreatment are taken into consideration, trauma does appear to be both necessary and sufficient as primary etiological factors in the development of BPD. As such, a reconceptualization of BPD as a trauma disorder may be beneficial in both destigmatizing BPD and for more effective treatments.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Agnello, Chacy"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Clinical Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Christina Brown","Dr. Eric Rosen","N/A"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:28Z","subjects":["developmental trauma","borderline personality disorder","attachment trauma","disrupted attachment","Developmental Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/375","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Christina Brown","Dr. Eric Rosen","N/A"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Agnello, Chacy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-05-26T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Clinical Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["developmental trauma","borderline personality disorder","attachment trauma","disrupted attachment","Developmental Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/375"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Current widely-accepted conceptualizations regarding borderline personality disorder (BPD) profess that trauma is not required in the etiology of BPD and place a significant focus on biological predispositions. This review sought to evaluate the current paradigms regarding BPD and examine whether trauma may be the most significant contributing factor in the development of BPD. Studies on developmental trauma (including psychological maltreatment) and attachment were examined. These studies appear to strongly support the idea that when disrupted attachment and psychological maltreatment are taken into consideration, trauma does appear to be both necessary and sufficient as primary etiological factors in the development of BPD. As such, a reconceptualization of BPD as a trauma disorder may be beneficial in both destigmatizing BPD and for more effective treatments.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Necessary and Sufficient: Examining the Role of Attachment Trauma and Psychological Maltreatment as Primary Etiological Factors in the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Christina Brown","Dr. Eric Rosen","N/A"],"dc:creator":["Agnello, Chacy"],"dc:date.available":["2019-05-26T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Current widely-accepted conceptualizations regarding borderline personality disorder (BPD) profess that trauma is not required in the etiology of BPD and place a significant focus on biological predispositions. This review sought to evaluate the current paradigms regarding BPD and examine whether trauma may be the most significant contributing factor in the development of BPD. Studies on developmental trauma (including psychological maltreatment) and attachment were examined. These studies appear to strongly support the idea that when disrupted attachment and psychological maltreatment are taken into consideration, trauma does appear to be both necessary and sufficient as primary etiological factors in the development of BPD. As such, a reconceptualization of BPD as a trauma disorder may be beneficial in both destigmatizing BPD and for more effective treatments.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/375"],"dc:subject":["developmental trauma","borderline personality disorder","attachment trauma","disrupted attachment","Developmental Psychology"],"dc:title":["Necessary and Sufficient: Examining the Role of Attachment Trauma and Psychological Maltreatment as Primary Etiological Factors in the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Clinical Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:28Z"}