A number of recent reports have indicated that there is a high
incidence of sexual abuse during childhood among patients with
borderline personality disorder. Although these findings are
important, a simple association between abuse and the disorder is an
oversimplification. Community studies of the long term effects of
abuse indicate that the parameters of abuse are crucial to the
patient's outcome. In addition, correlations have been found between
sexual abuse during childhood and factors related to the family
environment. A multifactorial model of the etiology of borderline
personality disorder is proposed in which biological vulnerability,
psychological factors and social influences are considered along with
their interactions.