Differential effect of childhood emotional abuse on present social support in borderline disorder and depression: a cross-sectional study
- Resource Type
- article
- Authors
- Ulrike Grave; Sarah Glanert; Kristina Borchfeld; Janne Outzen; Ulrich Schweiger; Eva Faßbinder; Jan Philipp Klein
- Source
- European Journal of Psychotraumatology, Vol 12, Iss 1 (2021)
- Subject
- perceived social support
childhood maltreatment
emotional abuse
borderline personality disorder
depressive disorder
Psychiatry
RC435-571
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2000-8066
20008198
Background: Perceived social support (PSS) is a crucial factor in physical and mental health. Previous studies found a negative association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and current PSS. Objective: In this paper, we investigate whether psychopathology moderates this association in a sample of patients with Depressive Disorder (DD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Method: Sixty-nine patients with DD and 110 patients with BPD were recruited to inpatient/day clinic treatment programmes for either DD or BPD. All participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and the Social Support Questionnaire (F-SozU). Our hypothesis was tested with a moderator analysis in a multiple linear regression model. Results: We found a significant interaction between diagnosis and CM for the CTQ total score and the emotional abuse subscale. Post hoc analyses revealed a significant negative correlation between CM and PSS only for patients suffering from BPD and not for patients with DD. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the negative association between CM and PSS might be more pronounced in certain patient groups, particularly patients with BPD.