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

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

Autor: Macfie, Jenny; Kurdziel, Gretchen

Publication year: 2020

Journal of personality disorders

issn:1943-2763 0885-579X

doi: 10.1521/pedi_2019_33_407

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Abstract:

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.

Language: eng

Rights:

Pmid: 30742556

Tags: Humans; Female; Adult; Child; Child, Preschool; Mother-Child Relations; children; Mothers; mothers; Physical Abuse; *Child Abuse; maltreatment; borderline personality disorder; *Borderline Personality Disorder/etiology; narrative representations

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30742556/