Long-term stability of perceived childhood trauma in individuals with borderline personality disorder
Background: The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is a widely used tool for the retrospective assessment of childhood trauma (CT). However, evidence on its long-term stability remains limited, especially in diagnostically complex populations such as individuals with borderline personality disorde...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Dec 2026
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| In: |
European journal of psychotraumatology
Year: 2026, Volume: 17, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-15 |
| ISSN: | 2000-8066 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/20008066.2026.2646755 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2026.2646755 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20008066.2026.2646755 
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| Author Notes: | Kristin Herrmann, Martin Weiß, Corinne Neukel, Christian Schmahl, Sylvia Steinmann, Johannes Zimmermann, Sabine C. Herpertz, and Katja Bertsch |
| Summary: | Background: The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is a widely used tool for the retrospective assessment of childhood trauma (CT). However, evidence on its long-term stability remains limited, especially in diagnostically complex populations such as individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Given the disorder’s characteristic emotional instability and altered self-perception, assessing the stability of CTQ scale scores in this group is particularly important. Methods: In a longitudinal design, CTQ and the Borderline Symptom List-23 (BSL-23) scores were collected at two timepoints (T0: n = 417; T1: n = 195) from individuals with current or past BPD. The interval between assessments ranged from 4-11 years (mean 7.72 years). Results: CTQ total scores showed excellent internal consistency (McDonald’s ω = .95) and high long-term stability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .82), regardless of assessment interval. Subscale stabilities ranged from moderate to high (Sexual Abuse = .86; Physical Abuse = .81; Emotional Neglect = .77; Physical Neglect = .76; Emotional Abuse = .75). Changes in CTQ subscale scores showed small to moderate positive associations with changes in BPD symptom severity (β = .23 -.33), indicating that increases in perceived childhood trauma were accompanied by increases in symptom severity, except for Physical Neglect (β = .16, p = .078). Conclusions: The CTQ scales demonstrated strong long-term stability over up to 11 years in a heterogeneous BPD sample. Individual changes in perceived childhood trauma were associated with corresponding changes in BPD symptom severity. These results support the CTQ’s utility as a retrospective measure of childhood trauma. Reported childhood trauma remains highly stable over several years in individuals with current/past borderline personality disorder.Changes in perceived childhood trauma were linked to changes in borderline personality disorder symptom severity, underscoring the clinical relevance of retrospective trauma assessments.Findings support the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire as a retrospective measure of childhood trauma for both research and clinical practice. Reported childhood trauma remains highly stable over several years in individuals with current/past borderline personality disorder. Changes in perceived childhood trauma were linked to changes in borderline personality disorder symptom severity, underscoring the clinical relevance of retrospective trauma assessments. Findings support the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire as a retrospective measure of childhood trauma for both research and clinical practice. |
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| Item Description: | Online veröffentlicht: 22. April 2026 Gesehen am 27.05.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2000-8066 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/20008066.2026.2646755 |