Adult Victimization over Time

At baseline, borderline patients reported higher rates of adult rape and physical assault by a partner than Axis II comparison subjects. Four risk factors were found to significantly predict whether borderline patients had an adult history of being a victim of physical and/or sexual violence before their index admission: female gender, a substance use disorder that began before the age of 18, childhood sexual abuse, and emotional withdrawal by a caretaker (a form of neglect). At six-year and 10-year follow-up, borderline patients reported higher rates of being verbally, emotionally, physically, and sexually abused or assaulted than did Axis II comparison subjects. However, each of these forms of abuse declined significantly over time. The clinical implications of these prevalence and predictive findings are discussed.