Borderline personality disorder in young people: associations with support and negative interactions in relationships with mothers and a best friend

Abstract Background Impaired interpersonal functioning has been highlighted as a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Adolescence and young adulthood form important developmental stages within both the emergence of BPD and the development of interpersonal functioning, which takes place mostly in relationships with parents and friends. This study aimed to: (i) investigate relations between BPD symptoms and both supportive and negative interactions with mothers and best friends; (ii) investigate whether the relations were moderated by age; (iii) test the robustness of our findings by comparing the results based on self-reports with results from a subsample in which supportive and negative interactions with mothers were rated by the mother. Methods 312 young people referred to mental healthcare completed self-report measures on BPD and supportive and negative interactions. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relations between BPD features and perceived supportive and negative interactions with mothers and a best friend, and to investigate whether these relations were moderated by age. Robustness of our findings was studied in a subsample (n = 104), by using a multi-informant design in maternal report on supportive and negative interactions with mothers. Results Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that negative interactions with mothers as well as with a best friend were related to more BPD symptoms in young people. Supportive interactions were not related to BPD symptoms. Both BPD and quality of relations were not related to age. In a subsample in which supportive and negative interactions with mothers were rated by the mother, the maternal report showed slightly different results. In this model, both supportive and negative interactions with a best friend were positively related, whereas interactions with mothers were not related to BPD symptoms in young people. Conclusions Results highlight the importance of relationships with mothers and a best friend during adolescence and young adulthood. Given that BPD often emerges during this developmental phase, future research is needed to clarify how quality of relationships could alter pathways toward BPD in young people. Trial registration Not applicable.

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Borderline Personality Disorder in Young People: Associations with Support and Negative Interactions in Relationships with Mothers and a Best Friend

10.21203/rs.3.rs-868127/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christel Hessels ◽

Tessa van den Berg ◽

Sofie A. Lucassen ◽

Odilia M. Laceulle ◽

Marcel A.G. van Aken

Keyword(s):

Personality Disorder ◽

Young People ◽

Young Adulthood ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Maternal Report ◽

Best Friend ◽

Adolescence And Young Adulthood ◽

Negative Interactions

Abstract Background:Impaired interpersonal functioning has been highlighted as a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Adolescence and young adulthood form important developmental stages within both the emergence of BPD and the development of interpersonal functioning, which takes place mostly in relationships with parents and friends. This study aimed to: (i) investigate relations between BPD symptoms and both supportive and negative interactions with mothers and best friends; (ii) investigate whether the relations were moderated by age; (iii) test the robustness of our findings by comparing the results based on self-reports with results from a subsample in which supportive and negative interactions with mothers were rated by the mother.Methods312 young people referred to mental healthcare completed self-report measures on BPD and supportive and negative interactions. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relations between BPD features and perceived supportive and negative interactions with mothers and best friend, and to investigate whether these relations were moderated by age. Robustness of our findings was studied in a subsample (n = 104) by using a multi-informant design in maternal report on supportive and negative interactions with mothers. ResultsMultiple regression analyses demonstrated that negative interactions with mothers as well as with a best friend were related to more BPD symptoms in young people. Supportive interactions were not related to BPD symptoms. Both BPD and quality of relations were not related to age. In a subsample in which supportive and negative interactions with mothers were rated by the mother, the maternal report showed slightly different results. In this model, both supportive and negative interactions with a best friend were positively related, whereas interactions with mothers were not related to BPD symptoms in young people.ConclusionsResults highlight the importance of relationships with mothers and a best friend during adolescence and young adulthood. Given that BPD often emerges during this developmental phase, future research is needed to clarify how quality of relationships could alter pathways toward BPD in young people.

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Development of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Introduction to the Special Section

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology ◽

10.1007/s10802-011-9594-3 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Stephanie D. Stepp

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Young Adulthood ◽

Special Section ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Adolescence And Young Adulthood

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Primary care and suicidality among psychiatric outpatients: The patient-doctor relationship matters

The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine ◽

10.1177/0091217420977994 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 009121742097799

Author(s):

Krista Schultz ◽

Sharan Sandhu ◽

David Kealy

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Primary Care ◽

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Primary Care Physician ◽

Population Based ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Care Physician ◽

Cross Sectional

Objective The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between the quality of the Patient-Doctor Relationship and suicidality among patients seeking mental health care; specifically, whether patients who perceive having a more positive relationship with primary care physician will have lower levels of suicidality. Method Cross-sectional population-based study in Greater Vancouver, Canada. One-hundred ninety-seven participants were recruited from three Mental Health Clinics who reported having a primary care physician. Participants completed a survey containing questions regarding items assessing quality of Patient-Doctor Relationship, general psychiatric distress (K10), borderline personality disorder, and suicidality (Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised-SBQ-R). Zero-order correlations were computed to evaluate relationships between study variables. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to control for confounding variables. Results The quality of the patient doctor relationship was significantly negatively associated with suicidality. The association between the quality of the patient-doctor relationship and suicidality remained significant even after controlling for the effects of psychiatric symptom distress and borderline personality disorder features. Conclusions The degree to which patients’ perceive their primary care physician as understanding, reliable, and dedicated, is associated with a reduction in suicidal behaviors. Further research is needed to better explicate the mechanisms of this relationship over time.

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Borderline personality disorder in young people: state of the art and future plans in Italy

Current Opinion in Psychology ◽

10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.08.010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 ◽

pp. 61-65

Author(s):

Roberta Rossi ◽

Maria Elena Ridolfi

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Young People ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Future Plans

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Self-esteem instability and affective instability in everyday life after remission from borderline personality disorder

10.21203/rs.3.rs-32450/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Philip Samuel Santangelo ◽

Tobias D. Kokler ◽

Marie-Luise Zeitler ◽

Rebekka Knies ◽

Nikolaus Kleindienst ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Specific Symptom ◽

Affective Dysregulation ◽

Daily Life Activities ◽

Diary Studies ◽

Affective Instability

Abstract Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is defined by a pervasive pattern of instability. According to prior findings and clinical theories, self-esteem instability and affective instability are key features of BPD. Previous e-diary studies showed that instability in self-esteem is heightened and that it is highly intertwined with affective instability in BPD in comparison to healthy controls (HC). The present study sought to extend these findings by adding symptomatologically remitted BPD patients (BPD-REM), i.e. former patients with BPD who met four or fewer BPD criteria within the past year, as a comparison group.Methods: To examine differences regarding self-esteem instability and affective instability, we used e-diaries for repeatedly collecting data on self-esteem, valence, and tense arousal 12 times a day for four consecutive days while participants underwent their daily life activities. Determining three different state-of-the-art instability indices and applying multilevel analyses, we compared 35 BPD-REM participants with previously reported 60 acute BPD patients (BPD-ACU) and 60 HC.Results: Our results revealed that self-esteem instability was significantly lower in the BPD-REM compared to the BPD-ACU group, irrespective of the instability index. In contrast, there were no significant differences regarding affective instability between the BPD-REM participants and those in the BPD-ACU group. The comparison between the BPD-REM with the HC indicated both a significantly higher instability in self-esteem as well as significantly heightened affective instability in the BPD-REM participants. Moreover, even though the associations were not significant, we found tentative support for the assumption that affective changes that are accompanied by changes in self-esteem are experienced as more burdensome and negatively impact the quality of life of remitted BPD participants.Conclusions: This study builds on growing evidence for the importance of self-esteem instability in BPD. Whereas affective instability has been reported in various psychiatric disorders and might indeed constitute a transdiagnostic marker of affective dysregulation, our results indicate that self-esteem instability might be a specific symptom that construes the unique pathology in BPD.

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