Mothers with borderline personality and their young children: Adult Attachment Interviews, mother–child interactions, and children's narrative representations

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Macfie ◽  
Scott A. Swan ◽  
Katie L. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Christopher D. Watkins ◽  
Elaine M. Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Role Reversal ◽  
Narrative Representations ◽  
Normative Comparisons ◽  
Fear Of Abandonment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Larger Sample

AbstractBorderline personality disorder (BPD) involves disruptions in attachment, self, and self-regulation, domains conceptually similar to developmental tasks of early childhood. Because offspring of mothers with BPD are at elevated risk of developing BPD themselves (White, Gunderson, Zanarini, & Hudson, 2003), studying them may inform precursors to BPD. We sampled 31 children age 4–7 whose mothers have BPD and 31 normative comparisons. We examined relationships between mothers' Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) representations (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984), mothers' observed parenting, and children's narrative representations. Replicating previous studies, mothers with BPD were more likely to be classified as preoccupied and unresolved on the AAI. In a larger sample, which included the current one, we also replicated two underlying AAI dimensions found in normative samples (Roisman, Fraley, & Belsky, 2007; Whipple, Bernier, & Mageau, 2011). Controlling for current mood, anxiety, and other personality disorders, mothers with BPD were significantly higher than were comparisons on the preoccupied/unresolved, but not the dismissive, dimension. Children's narrative representations relevant to disruptions in attachment (fear of abandonment and role reversal), self (incongruent child and self/fantasy confusion), and self-regulation (destruction of objects) were significantly correlated with the preoccupied/unresolved, but not the dismissive, dimension. Furthermore, mothers' parenting significantly mediated the relationship between the preoccupied/unresolved dimension and their children's narrative representations of fear of abandonment.

Assessing Attachment: Convergent Validity of the Adult Attachment Interview and the Parental Bonding Instrument

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Manassis ◽  
Mary Owens ◽  
Kenneth S. Adam ◽  
Malcolm West ◽  
Adrienne E. Sheldon-Keller
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Parental Bonding ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Role Reversal ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Parental Bonding Instrument ◽  
Child Attachment

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether or not the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) can provide information about parent-child attachment that is comparable to information obtained from the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), a more complex measure of attachment. Method: One hundred and thirty emotionally and/or behaviourally disturbed adolescents (73 male, 57 female; ages 13–19 years, × = 15.3 ± 1.47 years) participating in a study of attachment and suicidality completed the PBI and the AAI. Data from these measures were compared within participants. Results: Maternal care and overprotection on the PBI differed significantly by AAI attachment classification (F3,122 = 2.79, p = 0.012), with autonomous participants showing the most optimal and unresolved participants the least optimal PBI results. Maternal love and maternal involvement/role reversal on the AAI were significant predictors of maternal care and maternal overprotection, respectively, on the PBI (R2 = 0.15; R2 = 0.16). These predictions improved when AAI scales measuring idealisation and involving anger towards the mother were included in the regression analyses (R2 = 0.35; R2 = 0.20). Autonomous participants on AAI showed the highest scale correlations across instruments. Conclusions: Attachment information obtained from the PBI and the AAI is comparable in participants with optimal attachment histories, but not in participants showing idealisation or anger towards their mothers. Caution is, therefore, advisable when using the PBI to obtain attachment information in clinical samples where suboptimal attachment histories are likely.

The Experience of Maltreatment in Young Children Whose Mothers Have Borderline Personality Disorder: Reflections in Their Narrative Representations

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 750-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Macfie ◽  
Gretchen Kurdziel
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Identity Disturbance ◽  
Narrative Representations ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Normative Comparisons ◽  
Negative Relationships

Child maltreatment is an etiological factor in borderline personality disorder (BPD), which may be transmitted to the children of mothers with BPD. We assessed maltreatment in 36 children aged 4–7 whose mothers have BPD and in 34 normative comparisons. Children whose mothers have BPD were more likely to have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect than were normative comparisons. Mothers’ self-reported borderline features were significantly correlated with children's maltreatment. Neglect was associated with mothers’ affective instability, identity disturbance, negative relationships, and self-harm; sexual abuse was associated with mothers’ identity disturbance, and negative relationships; and physical abuse was associated with mothers’ self-harm. Maltreatment mediated the relationship between all four of mothers’ borderline features and children's narrative representations of the caregiver–child relationship, which included fear of abandonment, role reversal, and mother–child relationship expectations. The authors discuss results in the context of risk for developing BPD in early adulthood and early preventive interventions targeting children's representations.

scholarly journals Patient’s and the Therapist’s Attachment Representations, Attachment to Therapists, and Self-Esteem-Change Through Psychotherapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Petrowski ◽  
Hendrik Berth ◽  
Peter Beiling ◽  
Vanessa Renner ◽  
Thomas Probst
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Style ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Naturalistic Study ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Attachment Relationship ◽  
Specific Attachment ◽  
The Relationship

Objectives: The present naturalistic study aims to investigate the differential effects of the patient’s and the therapist’s attachment representations on the attachment to the therapist as perceived by the patient, and their impact on self-esteem-change through psychotherapy.Methods: Attachment variables of N = 573 patients as well as N = 16 therapists were assessed. Attachment representations were measured for therapists and patients via the Bielefelder Questionnaire for Client Attachment Exploration, the Relationship Specific Attachment to Therapist Scales and the Adult Attachment Interview. The patient’s attachment to therapists was evaluated and patients’ self-esteem was measured via the Frankfurter Selbstkonzeptskalen at the beginning and end of psychotherapy.Results: Although there were significant effects of the patient’s attachment representations on the perceived attachment to the therapist as well as between the perceived attachment to the therapist and the amount of self-esteem-change, the therapist’s attachment style had no significant influence on the perceived attachment to the therapist.Conclusion: Self-esteem-change through psychotherapy is influenced by the actually formed attachment relationship as perceived by the patient. The patient’s attachment representations but not the therapist’s attachment style contributes to the actual patient’s attachment to the therapist.

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