Objective: To determine whether children with borderline pathology have a s
pecific pattern of psychological risk factors. Method: The subjects were 94
school-age children in day treatment, divided into borderline (n = 41) and
nonborderline (n = 53) groups using the child version of the Retrospective
Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines. All children were assessed using the
Child Behavior Checklist, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizop
hrenia for School-Age Children, and the Psychosocial Questionnaire. Parenta
l pathology was assessed by a computerized version of the Structured Clinic
al Interview for DSM-III-R. Results: Children with borderline pathology had
higher rates of physical abuse, sexual abuse, severe neglect, as well as f
amily breakdown and parental criminality. In multivariate analyses, the dis
criminating factors were sexual abuse and parental criminality. Borderline
pathology was highly comorbid with conduct disorder, but most of these resu
lts remained significant in reanalyses comparing children with and without
conduct disorder. Conclusions: Borderline pathology in children has a uniqu
e pattern of risk factors not accounted for by conduct disorder alone.