Hypothalamic pituitary thyroid axis and exposure to interpersonal violence in childhood among women with borderline personality disorder

Figures & data

Table 1 The KIVS scores grouped into three levels of exposure

The KIVS score	The KIVS statements	Classification in current study
0	No violence.
1	Occasional slaps. Fights in school, of no great significance.	Low
2	Bullied occasionally for short period(s).	Medium high
	Occasionally exposed to corporal punishment.
3	Often bullied. Frequently exposed to corporal punishment. Beaten by drunken parent.
4	Bullied throughout childhood. Battered/beaten up by schoolmates. Regularly beaten by parent or other adult. Beaten with objects. Sexually abused.	High
5	Repeated exposure to violence at home or in school that resulted at least once in serious bodily harm. Repeated sexual abuse, or sexual abuse that resulted in bodily harm.

Fig. 1 Number of individuals with exposure to interpersonal violence in childhood, among women with borderline personality disorder.

Table 2 Clinical characteristics of the three KIVS groups

KIVS group	Low (n=30)	Medium high (n=22)	High (n=40)	Statistics	p
Mean age (SD)	28 (±6.75)	30 (±7.80)	30 (±8.1)	F (2,89)=0.67	0.52
Axis I diagnose	29 (97%)	21 (95%)	40 (100%)	χ ^2=0.06	0.81
Additional Axis II diagnose (1 or more)	12 (40%)	15 (68%)	23 (58%)	χ ^2=4.04	0.13
PTSD	10/30 (33%)	8/22 (36%)	31/40 (78%)	χ ^2=16.75, τ=0.43
				χ ^2=13.78, τ=0.43	0.0002
				χ ^2=10.29, τ=0.38	0.0002 (L vs. H)
					0.001 (M vs. H)
				χ ^2=0.05, τ=0.03	0.82 (L vs. M)
Medication, any psychoactive medication	16 (53%)	14 (64%)	28 (70%)	χ ^2=2.04	0.36
Antidepressants	14 (46%)	11 (50%)	20 (50%)	χ ^2=0.09	0.96
Lithium	1	2	0	⊗
No medication	2	2	3	⊗
No registered records of medication	10 (33%)	5 (23%)	9 (23%)	χ ^2=1.2	0.55

All estimated shown in bold are significant at p<0.05. KIVS=Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale, L=low: KIVS rating 0–1, M=medium high: KIVS rating 2–3, H=high: KIVS rating 4–5. ⊗=statistical analysis was not performed. No registered records of medication=data missing due to changes in research protocol. τ=Kendall's tau-c.

Fig. 2 FT3/FT4 ratio in female BPD patients with low, medium high, and high levels of exposure to interpersonal violence as a child.

Fig. 3 Correlation between FT3 (pmol/L) and FT4 (pmol/L) in the three groups of KIVS exposure to interpersonal violence as a child.

Table 3 Correlation matrix and results of the multiple regression analysis for KIVS exposure to interpersonal violence in childhood and FT3/FT4 in female patients with borderline personality disorder

	FT3/FT4	KIVS exposure	Age	PTSD	Cortisol	B	SE B	β
KIVS exposure	−0.25*					−0.019	0.005	−0.38*
Age	−0.06	0.1				0.001	0.001	0.1
PTSD	0.14	0.36*	−0.02			0.02	0.02	0.26*
Cortisol	0.21*	0.08	−0.26*	0.29*		0.000	0.000	0.16
Sample storage time	0.24*	0.05	−0.26*	−0.09	0.11	0.000	0.000	0.29*

All tests are two-tailed. KIVS Exposure = Karolinska Interpersonal Violence Scale; exposure to interpersonal violence in childhood.

*p<0.05.

Fig. 4 Correlation between KIVS exposure to interpersonal violence as a child and FT3/FT4 ratio, in patients with comorbid PTSD.

Table 4 Group comparisons (Wilcoxon and t-test) of hormone levels in female borderline patients with and without comorbid PTSD diagnosis

	PTSD	Non-PTSD
Variables	Mean (SD) Median (Range) n	Mean (SD) Median (Range) n	Statistic
TSH	1.4 (0.7) 1.2 (0.5–3.0) n=49	1.3 (0.7) 1.1 (0.4–3.5) n=43	Z=−0.9 (p=0.35)
T3	1.9 (0.3) 1.8 (1.4–2.5) n=43	1.9 (0.4) 1.9 (1.2–2.5) n=40	Z=−0.1 (p=0.96)
T4	104 (20) 105 (65–140) n=45	102 (16) 103 (70–135) n=39	t=0.5 (p=0.64)
FT3	4.7 (0.6) 4.8 (3.5–6) n=49	4.6 (0.8) 4.5 (3.1–7.1) n=43	Z=−1.2 (p=0.23)
FT4	9.4 (1.4) 9 (7–13) n=49	9.7 (1.7) 10 (6–14) n=43	Z=−1.0 (p=0.31)
T3/T4	0.02 (0.003) 0.02 (0.01–0.02) n=42	0.02 (0.003) 0.02 (0.01–0.02) n=39	Z=−0.2 (p=0.84)
FT3/FT4	0.5 (0.1) 0.5 (0.4–0.7) n=49	0.49 (0.1) 0.46 (0.34–0.89) n=43	Z=−1.6 (p=0.12)
Cortisol	458 (224) 429 (140–1,070) n=49	346 (127) 340 (168–600) n=43	Z=−2.4 (p=0.014)*

TSH (mE/L), T3 (nmol/L), T3 (pmol/L), T4 (nmol/L), FT3 (pmol/L), FT4 (pmol/L), cortisol (nmol/L).