Adult Personality and Childhood Experiences of Maltreatment
by Hurst, Teresa, Ph.D., NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY, 2011, 82 pages; 3458103

Abstract:

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether specific personality disorder features in adulthood were associated with specific types of childhood maltreatment. After controlling for demographic and other maltreatment variables, physical abuse was hypothesized to be associated with antisocial personality features, sexual abuse with borderline personality features, neglect with schizotypal features and emotional abuse with both obsessive compulsive and avoidant features. Methods: A community sample of 100 students from the New School University in New York, New York was assessed for the study. Personality functioning was assessed using the Personality Disorders Questionnaire. Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Neglect Scale, and the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale. Results: In terms of the a priori research questions posed in this study, there was only one positive finding, namely that retrospective reports of childhood physical abuse were significantly associated with an increased risk for antisocial personality disorder features in adulthood even after age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and reported childhood histories of sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect were controlled statistically. In addition, young age was also shown to be a significant predictor for three of the five personality types. Conclusions: While reported histories of childhood maltreatment were not as strongly related to personality dysfunction as has been found in other populations, the findings of this study support some relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality disorder. Hence, histories of maltreatment should not be disregarded for college populations. Furthermore, personality pathology in college students may be related to factors other than trauma histories, such as young age.

 
AdvisersMcWelling Todman; Lisa Cohen
SchoolNEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY
SourceDAI/B 72-08, p. , Jul 2011
Source TypeDissertation
SubjectsClinical psychology; Personality psychology
Publication Number3458103
Adobe PDF Access the complete dissertation:
 

» Find an electronic copy at your library.
  Use the link below to access a full citation record of this graduate work:
  http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl%3furl_ver=Z39.88-2004%26res_dat=xri:pqdiss%26rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation%26rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3458103
  If your library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database, you may be entitled to a free electronic version of this graduate work. If not, you will have the option to purchase one, and access a 24 page preview for free (if available).

About ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
With over 2.3 million records, the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) database is the most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses in the world. It is the database of record for graduate research.

The database includes citations of graduate works ranging from the first U.S. dissertation, accepted in 1861, to those accepted as recently as last semester. Of the 2.3 million graduate works included in the database, ProQuest offers more than 1.9 million in full text formats. Of those, over 860,000 are available in PDF format. More than 60,000 dissertations and theses are added to the database each year.

If you have questions, please feel free to visit the ProQuest Web site - http://www.proquest.com - or call ProQuest Hotline Customer Support at 1-800-521-3042.