Open AccessTesting the Link Between Mothers’ General Reflective Function Capacity and Adolescent Borderline Personality Features: Perceived Parenting Behaviors as a Potential Mechanism
Author(s) -
Salome Vanwoerden,
Francesca Penner,
Caroline Pearson,
Johanna Bick,
Hanako Yoshida,
Carla Sharp
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of personality disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.23
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1943-2763
pISSN - 0885-579X
DOI - 10.1521/pedi_2021_35_505
Subject(s) - psychology , borderline personality disorder , mentalization , developmental psychology , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , association (psychology) , personality , punishment (psychology) , psychiatry , psychotherapist , social psychology
Impairments in mothers' reflective function (RF), the ability to imagine the mental states of the self and others, underlies maladaptive parenting strategies, which have been associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The current study evaluated the association between mother's RF and adolescents' BPD and the mediating role of a range of parenting behaviors. Five hundred and thirty-one inpatient adolescents and their mothers participated in the current study. A multimethod assessment of BPD was used alongside mothers' self-reported quality of RF. Children completed three questionnaires about maternal parenting behaviors. There was no direct relation between mother's RF capacity and adolescents' BPD. However, mothers' adaptive certainty about mental states related to less severe BPD in adolescents, specifically through decreases in inconsistent punishment. Mothers' RF capacity predicted various parenting behaviors, which was associated with adolescents' BPD severity. Implications of findings for early intervention and prevention are discussed.