Evaluation of early relational disturbance in high‐risk populations: Borderline personality disorder features, maternal mental state, and observed interaction

• Published in: Infant mental health journal 2020-11, Vol.41 (6), p.793-810
• Main Authors: Newman‐Morris, Vesna, Simpson, Katrina, Gray, Kylie M., Perry, Natasha, Dunlop, Adrian, Newman, Louise K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beziehungstrauma; Borderline personality disorder; Borderline‐Persönlichkeitsstörung; distorted maternal representations; disturbance in the mother–infant interaction; maternal mentalisation; mentalisation maternelle; mentalización maternal; Mothers; mütterliche Mentalisierung; Parent-child relations; Personality disorders; perturbación en la interacción madre‐infante; perturbations de l'interaction mère‐bébé; Questionnaires; relational trauma; representaciones maternas distorsionadas; représentations maternelles déformées; Störung der Mutter‐Kind‐Interaktion; trastorno de personalidad limítrofe; Trauma; trauma de relación; trauma relationnel; trouble de la personnalité limite; verzerrte mütterliche Repräsentationen; اضطراب الشخصية الحدية، الصدمات العلائقية، التمثيلات الأمومية المشوهة، الاضطراب في التفاعل بين الأم والرضيع، التمثيل الذهني الأمومي; 关系创伤; 境界性パーソナリティ障害; 扭曲的母亲表征; 歪んだ母親表象; 母亲心智化; 母婴互动障碍; 母子相互作用における混乱; 母親のメンタライゼーション; 边缘性人格障碍; 関係性トラウマ
• ISSN: 0163-9641; 1097-0355
• DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21880

ABSTRACT Despite the longstanding theoretical association in the attachment literature between maternal trauma history and disturbances in the mother–infant interaction, few studies have investigated mechanisms of transmission of traumatogenic relational patterns in high‐risk mother–infant dyads. This study investigated interrelationships among maternal trauma history, distorted maternal representations (DMRs, i.e. disturbed thoughts and feelings about the infant and self‐as‐parent), maternal mentalisation (i.e. capacity to conceive of self and other's intentions in terms of mental states including thoughts, feelings, and desires), and quality of interaction in a clinical sample of mothers with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features and their infants (N = 61). Measures used included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Parent Development Interview, Mother–Infant Relationship Scale, Borderline Symptom Checklist‐23, and the Emotional Availability Scales. The results indicated BPD features mediated the relationship between maternal trauma history and DMRs predicting disturbance in interaction. In addition, analyses showed that maternal mentalisation had a buffering effect between DMRs and maternal non‐hostility and yet the severity of BPD features moderated the relationship between mentalisation and DMRs. The findings suggest postpartum borderline pathology may adversely impact the experience of being a parent for women with a relational trauma history including deficits in mentalisation (i.e. hypermentalising) and disturbances in the mother–infant interaction. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. RESUMEN A pesar de la larga asociación teorética en la literatura de la afectividad entre el historial de trauma materno y perturbaciones en la interacción madre‐infante, pocos estudios han investigado mecanismos de transmisión de patrones de relación traumatogénicos en díadas madre‐infante de alto riesgo. Este estudio investigó interrelaciones entre el historial de trauma materno, las distorsionadas representaciones maternas (DMR, v.g. pensamientos y sentimientos perturbados acerca del infante y de sí misma como madre), la mentalización materna (v.g. capacidad para concebir las intenciones propias y de otros en términos de estados mentales), y la calidad de interacción en un grupo muestra clínico de madres con características de Trastornos de Personalidad Limítrofe (BPD) y sus infantes (N = 61). Entre las medidas usadas están el Cue