Objective Existing research has demonstrated that both adolescents and adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report higher rates of childhood adversity than their same-age peers; no studies have examined if adolescents and adults with BPD differ based on the extent of these experiences. In the present study, we compared the prevalence rates and severity of multiple forms of abuse and neglect in adolescents and adults with BPD and in psychiatrically healthy adolescents. Methods Participants included 104 adolescent (aged 13-17 years) inpatients with BPD, 60 age-matched, psychiatrically healthy adolescents, and 290 adult inpatients with BPD. All participants completed an interview that assessed the presence and severity of multiple forms of childhood abuse and neglect. Results A significantly higher percentage of adolescents with BPD reported 5 of 12 pathological childhood experiences and described more severe abusive experiences than their psychiatrically healthy peers. In comparison to adolescents with BPD, a significantly higher percentage of adults with BPD reported nearly all forms of childhood adversity and rated these experiences as more severe. Conclusions Taken together, these results suggest that adults with BPD report more severe profiles of abuse and neglect than adolescents with the disorder, even though adolescents with BPD differ from healthy peers.

The current study assesses time-to-cessation of individual therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and comparison subjects with other personality disorders (OPD) after 16 years of prospective follow-up. It also details the multivariate factors that predict this outcome for those with BPD. At baseline, 290 patients met criteria for BPD and 72 met criteria for OPD. Individuals with BPD had a significantly slower time-to-cessation of individual therapy than OPD comparison subjects. Seven baseline variables were found to be significant multivariate predictors of a slower time-to-cessation of individual therapy: older age, being white, severity of childhood neglect, history of a mood disorder, an IQ less than 90, poor vocational record prior to index admission, and higher level of trait neuroticism. The results of this study suggest that prediction of slower time-to-cessation of individual therapy is multifactorial in nature, involving factors related to demographics, childhood adversity, comorbidity, individual competence, and temperament.