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Similar to Effects of Borderline Mothers on Their Children
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Effects of Borderline Mothers on Their Children
- 1. Borderline Mothers A Reviewof Studies of the Effects on Their Children
- 2. Research shows a mother’s expression of certain symptoms of borderline personality disorder puts their children at risk for developing psychological, behavioral, and social difficulties later on in life.
- 3. Symptoms Splitting Low self-efficacy Inability to interpret child affect Identity confusion Self-harm or suicidal tendencies Emotion regulation difficulties
- 4. Mother’s Possible Attitudes Toward Child Intense Inconsistent Self-oriented Negative/angry Authoritarian Over-protective Possessive
- 5. Possible Effects on Child Disorganized infantile attachment pattern Aggression/defiance Dissociation Role reversal Fear of abandonment Shame Poor emotion regulation Psychiatric disorders such as BPD and PTSD Chronic stress Low self-esteem Confusion
- 6. References Barnow, S., Spitzer, C., Grabe, H. J., Kessler, C., & Freyberger, H. J. (2006). Individual characteristics, familial experience, and psychopathology in children of mothers with borderline personality disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(8), 965-972. Conroy, S., Marks, M. N., Schacht, R., Davies, H. A., & Moran, P. (2010). The impact of maternal depression and personality disorder on early infant care. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45(3), 285-292. Crittenden, P. M., & Newman, L. (2010). Comparing models of borderline personality disorder: Mothers' experience, self-protective strategies, and dispositional representations. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 15(3), 433-451. Herr, N. R., Hammen, C., & Brennan, P. A. (2008). Maternal borderline personality disorder symptoms and adolescent psychosocial functioning. Journal of Personality Disorders, 22(5), 451-465. Hobson, R. P., Patrick, M. P. H., Hobson, J. A., Crandell, L., Bronfman, E., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2009). How mothers with borderline personality disorder relate to their year-old infants. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 195(4), 325-330. Hobson, R. P., Patrick, M., Crandell, L., Garcia-Perez, R., & Lee, A. (2006). Personal relatedness and attachment in infants of mothers with borderline personality disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 17(2), 329-347. Macfie, J., & Swan, S. A. (2009). Representations of the caregiver-child relationship and of the self, and emotion regulation in the narratives of young children whose mothers have borderline personality disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 21(3), 993-1011. Newman, L. K., Stevenson, C. S., Bergman, L. R., & Boyce, P. (2007). Borderline personality disorder, mother-infant interaction and parenting perceptions: Preliminary findings. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 41(7), 598-605. Newman, L., & Stevenson, C. (2005). Parenting and borderline personality disorder: Ghosts in the nursery. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 10(3), 385-394. Newman, L., & Stevenson, C. (2008). Issues in infant-parent psychotherapy for mothers with borderline personality disorder. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 13(4), 505-514.
Editor's Notes
- Borderline personality disorder is a pervasive disorder which affects all aspects of a person’s life, including parenting skills. Many studies have concluded that untreated women with borderline personality disorder put their children at risk for developing difficulties in both childhood and adulthood.
- People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) can have difficulties with “black and white” thinking , or “splitting”. Mothers with BPD can see their children as all “good” or all “bad”. They also can have doubts about their ability to be parents. Because they may have trouble interpreting their own emotions, they tend to be poor at interpreting the emotions and cues of their children. Self-harm, suicidal and para-suicidal ideation and actions are common in BPD. Those with the disorder may also have difficulty regulating emotions such as anger, depression, or anxiety. When a mother expresses these symptoms, she may appear to her child to be inconsistent and unpredictable.
- These mothers can express one, a combination, or all of these attitudes during a short time frame. To make things more confusing for the child, the mother may be nurturing and loving at times, also. In some cases, the self-orientation of the mother leads to a “role reversal” in which the child is made the care-taker for the mother.
- Children of mothers with BPD may have a “disorganized” attachment to their mothers. They may alternate between clinging to the mother and pushing her away. It can be clearly seen that the effects of having a mother with untreated BPD can be serious and cause problems for a child from infancy through adulthood without intervention. Women who have been diagnosed with BPD should be made aware of the risks to their children that their disorder presents in order to engage in therapy designed to alleviate the symptoms.