Early Childhood Representations of Parent-Child
Relationships, Self, and Self-Regulation Predict PreAdolescent Borderline Features
Jennifer M. Strimpfel, Gretchen Kurdziel, Rebecca M. Skadberg, Rebecca M. Mahan, Kayley N.
Davis, Emily E. Pollard, & Jenny Macfie
Presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting
March 2015, Philadelphia, PA
Abstract
Maternal borderline features are associated with maladaptive narrative representations of the
caregiver-child relationship, self, and self-regulation in their preschool aged offspring. However,
we do not know if these maladaptive representations are related to borderline features as these
offspring approach adolescence. In the present study, we assessed child participants’ (n = 22)
narrative representations using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery in early childhood (ages 4-6),
and their borderline features (negative relationships, self harm, identity problems, and affective
instability) using the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-C) in preadolescence (ages 10-13). We hypothesized that narrative representations of negative mother,
negative father, self/fantasy confusion, and destruction of objects in early childhood would
positively correlate with borderline features in pre-adolescence and narrative representations of
mother-child relationship expectations and father-child relationship expectations in early
childhood would negatively correlate with borderline features in pre-adolescence. Results
indicated that negative mother and father representations and negative mother-child relationship
expectations in early childhood were associated with self-harm in pre-adolescence.
Representations of destruction of objects were associated with affective instability, identity
problems, and total borderline features in pre-adolescence. These results show potential
pathways through which disruptions in early developmental tasks may affect development of
borderline features in pre-adolescence.
Introduction
Borderline Personality Disorder


Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a chronic, serious psychological disorder
marked by unstable relationships, fear of abandonment, identity disturbance, mood
lability, and self-harm behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Borderline Features (negative relationships, identity problems, affective instability, and
self-harm) can be measured continuously (Morey, 1991) and are highly correlated with a
diagnosis of BPD in adults (Trull, 1995) and adolescents ages 12-17 (Sharp, Ha,
Michonski, Venta, & Carbone, 2012).
Borderline Features in Mothers and Offspring




From a developmental psychopathology perspective, studying offspring of individuals
with BPD can provide information about pathways to this disorder (Cicchetti, 1984;
Lenzenweger & Cicchetti, 2005; Macfie, 2009).
Maternal borderline features are correlated with borderline features in their adolescent
offspring (Watkins et al., 2011, April).
Through what pathways might maternal borderline features influence the development of
those features in their offspring?
The current study will examine how maladaptive early narrative representations related to
attachment, self-development, and emotion regulation might represent one such pathway.
Narrative Representations in Offspring of Mothers with BPD




The MacArthur Story Stem Battery is a narrative-based assessment tool used to measure
preschool-aged children’ emotional experiences and representations of themselves and
important relationships (Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & The MacArthur
Narrative Group, 1990; Holmberg, Robinson, Corbitt-Price, & Wiener, 2007).
Maternal borderline features are correlated with maladaptive child-caregiver, self, and
emotion regulation representations in the narratives of their preschool-aged offspring
(Macfie & Swan, 2009).
Mothers with BPD are more likely to have preoccupied/unresolved attachment
representations, and this maternal preoccupied/unresolved attachment style is correlated
with narrative representations indicative of disrutptions in attachment, self-development,
and emotion regulation in their pre-school aged offspring (Macfie, Swan, Fitzpatrick,
Watkins, & Rivas, 2014).
The current study will expand upon these studies and examine the correlation between
maladaptive narrative representations in early childhood and borderline features in preadolescence.
The Current Study


However, it is not known if these early maladaptive representations indeed predict the
development of borderline features as children approach adolescence.
The current study is a follow-up to the study discussed in Macfie & Swan (2009), which
found that maternal borderline features were related to maladaptive offspring narrative
representations of child-caregiver, self, and emotion regulation in early childhood.
Hypotheses
1) Narrative representations of negative mother, negative father, self/fantasy confusion, and
destruction of objects in early childhood will positively correlate with borderline features
in pre-adolescence.
2) Narrative representations of mother-child relationship expectations and father-child
relationship expectations in early childhood will negatively correlate with borderline
features in pre-adolescence.
Method
Participants






Participants for this study were N = 22 children (n = 14 females) who were recruited from
a clinical and community sample. There were two sets of siblings in the sample,
therefore there were 20 mother participants total.
3 of the 20 mothers’ borderline features were in the “clinical” range (Total PAI-BOR
score >38) at Time 2 (Trull, 1995).
At Time 1, participants were ages 4-6 (M = 5.56, SD = 0.86)
At Time 2, participants were ages 10-13 (M = 11.66, SD = 1.12)
The mean time elapsed between Time 1 and 2 was 6.03 years (SD = 1.45)
100% of the sample was Caucasian, with one participant also identifying as Hispanic. See
Table 1 for Demographic Information.
Measures
Narrative Representations (Time 1). When participants were pre-schoolers, they completed the
MacArthur Story Stem Battery (Bretherton et al., 1990) in a laboratory setting. These narratives
were reliably coded for self/fantasy confusion, destruction of objects, positive mother
representations, negative mother representations, positive father representations, negative father
representations (Robinson, Mantz-Simmons, Macfie, & The MacArthur Narrative Group, 2009),
mother-child relationship expectations, and father-child relationship expectations (Bickham &
Fiese, 1999).
Borderline Features (Time 2). When participants were pre-adolescents, they completed the
Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-C). The BPFS-C is a self-report
measure of borderline features for children that consists of 4 subscales: affective instability,
identity problems, negative relationships, self-harm (Crick, Murray-Close, & Woods, 2005).
The BPFS-C is highly correlated with diagnosis of BPD in adolescents (Sharp et al., 2012).
Results
Hypothesis 1. Results partially supported hypothesis 1. Results indicated that representations of
destruction of objects in early childhood narratives was marginally correlated with total
borderline features in pre-adolescence and significantly correlated with affective instability and
identity disturbance in pre-adolescence. Negative father representations were significantly
correlated with self-harm in pre-adolescence and negative mother representations were
marginally correlated with self-harm in pre-adolescence. See Table 2.
Hypothesis 2. Results partially supported hypothesis 2. Results indicated that representations of
mother-child relationship expectations in early childhood narratives were negatively correlated
with self-harm in pre-adolescence.
Discussion






We know that maternal borderline features are related to disruptions in representations of
attachment, self-regulation, self-development in offspring in early childhood (Macfie &
Swan, 2009).
The present study is the first to investigate disruptions in these representations as
predictors of borderline features in pre-adolescence.
In the present study, the maladaptive narrative representation related to disruption in
emotion regulation (destruction of objects) in early childhood was associated with
affective instability, identity problems, and total borderline features in pre-adolesence.
o Linehan has conceptualized BPD as being a disorder characterized by emotional
dysregulation (Crowell, Beauchaine, & Linehan, 2009; Linehan, 1993).
o These results suggest that early problems with emotion regulation precede the
development of borderline features in pre-adolescence.
In the present study, maladaptive narrative representations related to disruptions in
attachment/caregiver-child relationship (negative mother and father representations,
lower mother-child relationship expectations) in early childhood were associated with
self-harm in pre-adolescence.
o Insecure attachment styles and interpersonal problems in adults are associated
with self-harm and suicidal behaviors (Stepp et al., 2008)
o These results provide further evidence that early disruptions in attachment and
important caregiver-child relationships are associated with later self-harm.
Overall, the results of the present study show potential pathways through which maternal
borderline features and disruptions in early developmental tasks may affect development
of borderline features in pre-adolescence.
Future longitudinal research should investigate if maladaptive representations in early
childhood mediate the relationship between mothers’ and adolescents’ borderline
features.
Table 1.
Demographic Information___________________
Variable (N = 22)
M (SD)
____
Time 1 Pre-Adolescent
Age (years)
5.56 (.86)
Time 2 Pre-Adolescent
Age (years)
11.66 (1.11)
Time 2 Family Income ($)
32,013 (37,088)
Time 2 Hollingshead Score
41.64 (17.67)
Total (%)________
Minority Ethnic
Status of Pre-Adolescent
1 (5%)
Female Pre-Adolescents
14 (64%)
Mother has GED/
19 (86%)
H.S. Diploma_____________________________
Table 2.
Bivariate Correlations Between Offspring Narrative Representations in Early Childhood and Their Own
Borderline Features in Pre-Adolescence
_______Offspring Borderline Features (Time 2)________
Total
Affective Identity
Negative
Self
Borderline
Instability Problems Relationships Harm Features
Offspring Narrative
Variables (Time 1)______
Attachment/Parent-Child Relationship
Negative Mother
Representations
-.02
-.21
-.17
.39†
-.01
Negative Father
Representations
.27
.02
-.06
.51*
.22
Mother-Child
Relationship
Expectations
-.01
.07
.19
-.44*
-.07
Father-Child
Relationship
Expectations
-.22
-.14
.10
-.35
-.20
.23
.16
.16
.30
.25
.50*
.41*
.27
.08
.38†
Self-Development
Self/ Fantasy
Confusion
Emotion Regulation
Destruction of
Objects
___________________
† = p < .10
* = p < .05
** = p < .01
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fifth Edition. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Bickham, N., & Fiese, B. (1999). Child Narrative Coding System. Unpublished Manuscript.
Bretherton, I., Oppenheim, D., Buchsbaum, H., Emde, R. N., & The MacArthur Narrative
Group. (1990). MacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB). Unpublished Manuscript.
Cicchetti, D. (1984). The emergence of developmental psychopathology. Child Development,
55(1), 1-7. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1129830
Crick, N. R., Murray-Close, D., & Woods, K. (2005). Borderline personality features in
childhood: A short-term longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 17(4),
1051-1070. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954579405050492
Crowell, S. E., Beauchaine, T. P., & Linehan, M. M. (2009). A biosocial developmental model
of borderline personality: Elaborating and extending linehan’s theory. Psychological
Bulletin, 135(3), 495-510. doi: 10.1037/a0015616
Holmberg, J., Robinson, J., Corbitt-Price, J., & Wiener, P. (2007). Using narratives to assess
competencies and risks in young children: Experiences with high risk and normal
populations. Infant Mental Health Journal, 28(6), 647-666. doi:
10.1023/A:1022864614244
Lenzenweger, M. F., & Cicchetti, D. (2005). Toward a developmental psychopathology
approach to borderline personality disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 17(4),
893-898.
Linehan, M. M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder.
New York: The Guilford Press.
Macfie, J. (2009). Development in children and adolescents whose mothers have borderline
personality disorder. Child Development Perspectives, 3(1), 66-71. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00079.x
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.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000534
Macfie, J., Swan, S. A., Fitzpatrick, K. L., Watkins, C. D., & Rivas, E. M. (2014). Mothers with
borderline personality and their young children: Adult Attachment Interviews, motherchild interactions, and children's narrative representations. Development and
Psychopathology, 26(2), 539-551. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S095457941400011X
Morey, L. C. (1991). Personality Assessment Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment
Resources.
Robinson, J., Mantz-Simmons, L., Macfie, J., & The MacArthur Narrative Group. (2009). The
Narrative Coding Manual, Tennessee Version. Unpublished Manuscript.
Sharp, C., Ha, C., Michonski, J., Venta, A., & Carbone, C. (2012). Borderline personality
disorder in adolescents: Evidence in support of the childhood interview for DSM-IV
borderline personality disorder in a sample of adolescent inpatients. Comprehensive
Psychiatry, 53(6), 765-774. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2011.12.003
Stepp, S. D., Morse, J. Q., Yaggi, K. E., Reynolds, S. K., Reed, L. I., & Pilkonis, P. A. (2008).
The role of attachment styles and interpersonal problems in suicide-related behaviors.
Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38(5), 592-607. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/suli.2008.38.5.592
Trull, T. J. (1995). Borderline personality disorder features in nonclinical young adults: 1.
Identification and validation. Psychological Assessment, 7(1), 33-41. doi: 10.1037/10403590.7.1.33
Watkins, C. D., Campion, S. P., Grassetti, S. N., Trupe, R. D., Holden, S. M., Ferencei, A. R., &
Macfie, J. (2011, April). The relationship between stress and borderline features in
adolescent offspring of mothers with borderline personality disorder. Presented at the
biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Montreal, Canada.
To learn more about the Child and Adolescent Development Lab, please visit:
http://macfie.utk.edu/