Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Oct 2020)
Dissociative Symptoms and Self-Reported Childhood and Current Trauma in Male Incarcerated People with Borderline Personality Disorder – Results from a Small Cross-Sectional Study in Iran
Abstract
Sanobar Golshani,1,* Sahel Ghanbari,1,* Ali Firoozabadi,2 Jalal Shakeri,1 Sarah Hookari,1 Bahareh Rahami,1 Dena Sadeghi Bahmani,1,3,4 Serge Brand1,3– 6 1Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran; 2Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 3Sleep Disorders Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran; 4University of Basel, Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), Center for Affective-, Stress- and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Basel 4002, Switzerland; 5Department of Sport, Exercise, and Health, Division of Sport Science and Psychosocial Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 6Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Serge BrandUniversity of Basel, Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), Center for Affective-, Stress- and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Basel 4002, SwitzerlandTel +4161 32 55 097Email [email protected]: There is evidence that incarcerated people show higher rates of symptoms of psychopathology. In the present study, we assessed male Iranian incarcerated people with borderline personality disorders (BPD) and investigated the occurrence of past and current trauma and their associations with dissociative experiences.Methods: A total of 69 male Iranian incarcerated people (mean age: 33.76 years) diagnosed with PBD completed questionnaires covering sociodemographic information, dissociative experiences, and past and current traumatic events.Results: Participants reporting the occurrence of childhood trauma also reported the occurrence of adulthood trauma. Dissociation and adulthood trauma were associated in a U-shaped, non-linear fashion: Low and high adulthood trauma were associated with higher dissociation. Younger age, the presence of childhood trauma, and being single or divorced predicted adulthood trauma.Conclusion: The pattern of results suggests that both childhood and adulthood trauma are highly prevalent among male incarcerated people, while the association between adulthood trauma and dissociation appeared to be more complex. When treating male incarcerated people, a complex interplay between past and current traumas and dissociation should be considered.Keywords: male incarcerated people, childhood trauma, adulthood trauma, dissociation, borderline personality disorders
