🔄 This open educational resource is under development. Lessons and topic organization will be updated progressively
Our personality isn’t just something we’re born with, it’s shaped by our early relationships and the environments we grow up in. When a child feels loved, supported, and emotionally safe, their brain and personality tend to develop in healthy ways.
But when a child experiences abuse, neglect, emotional rejection, or constant instability, those early wounds can deeply affect how they see themselves, manage emotions, and connect with others, even well into adulthood.
People who went through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) often develop traits like:
Emotional sensitivity or instability (linked to neuroticism),
Difficulty trusting others or keeping close relationships,
Trouble with impulse control, planning, or managing anger.
These traits don’t always reach the level of a diagnosis, but they can make daily life harder. In more serious cases, these patterns are related to personality disorders, conditions that reflect long-term difficulties with identity, emotions, and relationships.
For example:
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is strongly associated with childhood emotional abuse and neglect. People with BPD often struggle with a fragile sense of self, intense emotional reactions, impulsivity, and fear of abandonment. One study found that people with BPD were more than 13 times as likely to have experienced ACEs.
Narcissistic traits can also be shaped by early adversity. Emotional rejection in childhood is linked to the hostile or manipulative side of narcissism (narcissistic rivalry), but not to the more confident or charming traits (narcissistic admiration).
Antisocial traits, such as aggression and lack of empathy, are more common in people who experienced physical abuse or grew up in violent households.
Obsessive or controlling behavior can sometimes be traced back to growing up in chaotic or unpredictable environments.
School bullying or peer rejection can also leave deep marks, increasing vulnerability to identity struggles or interpersonal mistrust.
Among all types of adversity, emotional abuse is one of the most damaging. It doesn’t leave visible scars, but it can deeply impact how someone sees their own worth and how safe they feel with others.
It’s important to remember that personality disorders aren’t just “labels”, they often reflect adaptations to early pain. And they’re not fixed. Many people learn to manage, heal, or even change these patterns through therapy, self-reflection, and supportive relationships.
Understanding personality through a trauma-informed lens helps reduce stigma and opens the door to better support, both clinically and personally.
-
DescriptiClemens, V., Fegert, J. M., & Allroggen, M. (2022). Adverse childhood experiences and grandiose narcissism: Findings from a population-representative sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 130, 105545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105545
Hengartner, M. P., Ajdacic-Gross, V., Rodgers, S., Müller, M., & Rössler, W. (2013). Childhood adversity in association with personality disorder dimensions: New findings in an old debate. European Psychiatry, 28(8), 476–482. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-psychiatry/article/childhood-adversity-in-association-with-personality-disorder-dimensions-new-findings-in-an-old-debate/1CDB14D2C4D96203303E19FA2E7CA1E4
Miller, J. D., Back, M. D., Lynam, D. R., & Wright, A. G. C. (2021). Narcissism today: What we know and what we need to learn. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(6), 519–525. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214211044109
Porter, C., Palmier-Claus, J., Branitsky, A., Mansell, W., Warwick, H., & Varese, F. (2020). Childhood adversity and borderline personality disorder: A meta-analysis. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 141(1), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13118
Reyes, M. E. S., Davis, R. D., Buac, K. M. M., Dumaguing, L. I. B., Lapidez, E. D. L., Pangilina, C. A., Sy, W. P., & Ubaldo, J. S. (2018). Link between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Five Factor Model Traits among Filipinos. IAFOR Journal of Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.22492/ijpbs.4.2.06
Schulze, A., Cloos, L., Zdravkovic, M., et al. (2022). On the interplay of borderline personality features, childhood trauma severity, attachment types, and social support. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 9(35). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-022-00206-9
on text goes here