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Exploring the relation between childhood trauma, temperamental traits and mindfulness in borderline personality disorder.

Matilde Elices, Juan C Pascual, Cristina Carmona, Ana Martín‐Blanco, Albert Feliu-Soler, Elisabet Ruiz, Montserrat Gomà-I-Freixanet, Víctor Perez, Joaquim Soler

BMC Psychiatry July 29, 2015 DOI: 10.1186/s12888-015-0573-z (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed
Sample size 100
Population Adults diagnosed with borderline personality disorder
Measures Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), Zuckerman-Khulman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ)
Topics Meditation
Keywords Humans Cross-sectional studies Temperament Borderline personality disorder Personality inventory Child abuse Adolescent Female Young adult Surveys and questionnaires
Key findings Neuroticism and childhood sexual abuse predicted acting with awareness, and neuroticism, impulsiveness, and sexual abuse predicted non-judging, in adults with borderline personality disorder. Temperamental traits did not moderate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and mindfulness facets. The authors present these as preliminary findings and call for further research on causal relations.

Abstract

Background: Deficits in mindfulness-related capacities have been described in borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, little research has been conducted to explore which factors could explain these deficits. This study assesses the relationship between temperamental traits and childhood maltreatment with mindfulness in BPD.

Methods: A total of 100 individuals diagnosed with BPD participated in the study. Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), temperamental traits were assessed using the Zuckerman-Khulman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ), and mindfulness capabilities were evaluated with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ).

Results: Hierarchical regression analyses were performed including only those CTQ-SF and ZKPQ subscales that showed simultaneous significant correlations with mindfulness facets. Results indicated that neuroticism and sexual abuse were predictors of acting with awareness; and neuroticism, impulsiveness and sexual abuse were significant predictors of non-judging. Temperamental traits did not have a moderator effect on the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and mindfulness facets.

Conclusions: These results provide preliminary evidence for the effects of temperamental traits and childhood trauma on mindfulness capabilities in BPD individuals. Further studies are needed to better clarify the impact of childhood traumatic experiences on mindfulness capabilities and to determine the causal relations between these variables.

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