Necessary and Sufficient: Examining the Role of Attachment Trauma and Psychological Maltreatment as Primary Etiological Factors in the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Agnello, Chacy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Christina Brown
• Dr. Eric Rosen
• N/A

• developmental trauma
• borderline personality disorder
• attachment trauma
• disrupted attachment
• Developmental Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/375

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1413