Can protective factors moderate the detrimental effects of child maltreatment on personality functioning?

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine whether, and if so, to what extent, education and coping strategies may reduce the detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment on personality functioning. METHODS We assessed dimensional trait-scores of all 10 DSM-IV personality disorders (PDs), childhood maltreatment, education and three coping styles in 511 subjects of the general population of Zurich, Switzerland, using data from the ZInEP Epidemiology Survey. RESULTS Childhood maltreatment was associated with all 10 PDs. Low education was related to antisocial, borderline and histrionic PD. Low emotion-focused coping was associated with paranoid, schizoid, borderline, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive PD. Low problem-focused coping was related to schizoid PD and high problem-focused coping to histrionic PD. High dysfunctional coping was significantly related to all 10 PD dimensions. Obsessive-compulsive trait scores were significantly lower in maltreated subjects with high emotion-focused coping. Antisocial, borderline and narcissistic trait scores were significantly higher in maltreated subjects with high dysfunctional coping. CONCLUSION Education and adaptive coping may have a protective effect on PD symptomatology. Promotion of adaptive coping and suppression of dysfunctional coping may additionally reduce PD symptoms specifically in maltreated subjects. Those findings have important clinical implications. Longitudinal research is needed to address questions of causality and to evaluate potential effects of treatment and intervention.