Exposure to physical intimate partner violence in childhood and borderline personality disorder traits: the mediating role of insecure attachment.

Although different studies have found that exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) in childhood is linked to IPV perpetration in adulthood, others have revealed null effects. Previous research has also found that some factors might mediate the relationship between exposure to IPV in childhood and later IPV perpetration. As far as we know, no studies examined the role of aggression in this relationship. This study aimed to analyze the link between exposure to IPV in childhood and IPV perpetration in adulthood and verify whether this relationship was mediated by aggression and its components (verbal and physical aggression, anger, and hostility). Two hundred and forty five men convicted of domestic violence, from prison and community, were recruited. Correlation analysis revealed a positive link between exposure to IPV in childhood, aggression traits, and specifically physical aggression, and IPV frequency in adulthood. Overall aggression traits and physical aggression traits were statistically significant mediator variables explaining almost 15% of the overall effect of exposure to IPV in childhood on overall IPV frequency in adulthood. These findings unravel the role of aggression in the perpetration of physical and total IPV, claiming our attention to the need to include strategies to increase emotion regulation and problem-solving strategies in intervention programs.

Romantic attachment style and borderline personality pathology: A meta-analysis

An attachment-based approach to the management and psychotherapy of borderline personality disorder

At least half a million women are victims of intimate partner violence in the United States annually, resulting in substantial harm. However, the etiology of violence to intimate partners is not well understood. Witnessing such violence in childhood has been proposed as a principal cause of adulthood perpetration, yet it remains unknown whether the association between witnessing intimate partner violence and adulthood perpetration is causal. We conducted a propensity-score analysis of intimate partner violence perpetration to determine whether childhood witnessing is associated with perpetration in adulthood, independent of a wide range of potential confounding variables, and therefore might be a causal factor. We used data from 14,564 U.S. men ages 20 and older from the 2004-2005 wave of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Nearly 4% of men reported violent behavior toward an intimate partner in the past year. In unadjusted models, we found a strong association between childhood witnessing of intimate partner violence and adulthood perpetration (for witnessing any intimate partner violence, risk ratio [RR] = 2.6 [95% confidence interval = 2.1-3.2]; for witnessing frequent or serious violence, 3.0 [2.3-3.9]). In propensity-score models, the association was substantially attenuated (for witnessing any intimate partner violence, adjusted RR = 1.6 [1.2-2.0]; for witnessing frequent or serious violence, 1.6 [1.2-2.3]). Men who witness intimate partner violence in childhood are more likely to commit such acts in adulthood, compared with men who are otherwise similar with respect to a large range of potential confounders. Etiological models of intimate partner violence perpetration should consider a constellation of childhood factors.

Although past findings show that insecure attachment and maladaptive personality traits confer risk for perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV), little is known about how these factors may underpin psychological abuse (PA) committed in-person and via technology. This study examined whether borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits and psychopathic traits account for indirect effects of insecure attachment on the perpetration of face-to-face and cyber PA. Participants included a community-based sample (N = 200; Mage = 22.28 years) in Australia who completed a battery of online questionnaires. Results from bivariate correlations showed that elevated levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance, and higher scores on BPD traits and psychopathic traits, were significantly associated with the perpetration of both face-to-face and cyber PA. Findings from mediation analysis indicated that attachment anxiety was indirectly linked with the perpetration of both forms of PA via elevated scores on BPD traits and psychopathic traits. High levels of psychopathic traits accounted for the indirect effects of attachment avoidance on both forms of PA. Results support the theory that insecure attachment and maladaptive personality functioning might be involved in the development and/or maintenance of the perpetration of PA. These findings have implications for preventive and treatment programs for the perpetration of IPV in terms of shedding new light on potential risk factors for engagement in face-to-face and technology-based PA.

Borderline personality disorder traits and sexual compliance: A fear of abandonment manipulation

We used a longitudinal twin design to examine the causal association between sexual, emotional, and physical abuse in childhood (before age 18) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits at age 24 using a discordant twin design and biometric modeling. Additionally, we examined the mediating and moderating effects of symptoms of childhood externalizing and internalizing disorders on the link between childhood abuse and BPD traits. Although childhood abuse, BPD traits, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms were all correlated, the discordant twin analyses and biometric modeling showed little to no evidence that was consistent with a causal effect of childhood abuse on BPD traits. Instead, our results indicate that the association between childhood abuse and BPD traits stems from common genetic influences that, in some cases, also overlap with internalizing and externalizing disorders. These findings are inconsistent with the widely held assumption that childhood abuse causes BPD, and they suggest that BPD traits in adulthood are better accounted for by heritable vulnerabilities to internalizing and externalizing disorders.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) traits play a crucial role in the prognosis of psychiatric disorders, as well as in assessing risks associated with negativity and impulsivity. However, there is a lack of data regarding the distribution characteristics of BPD traits and symptoms within clinical populations. A total of 3015 participants (1321 males, 1694 females) were consecutively sampled from outpatients at the psychiatric and psycho-counseling clinics at the Shanghai Mental Health Center. BPD symptoms were assessed using a self-reported personality diagnostic questionnaire. Having BPD traits is defined as having five or more positive items in self-reported BPD characteristics. Participants were stratified into male and female groups, age groups, and diagnostic groups (schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders). Exploratory factor analysis using principal components analysis was conducted. Three factors were identified: "F1: Affective Instability and Impulsivity", "F2: Interpersonal Unstable and Extreme Reactions", and "F3: Identity Disturbance". Among 3015 participants, 45.9% of the patients self-reported BPD traits. Comparing of male and female patients, there was no statistically significant difference in the occurrence rate of BPD traits (χ2 = 1.835, p=0.176). However, in terms of symptoms, female patients reported more symptoms than male patients. Female patients also exhibited more pronounced features on F2 compared to male patients (t =-1.972, p=0.049). There is a general decrease in BPD traits, symptoms, and factors with increasing age. Specifically, the proportion of positive BPD traits is approximately halved before the age of 30 and decreases to around one-third after the age of 30. BPD traits were most common in the Mood Disorders group at 55.7%, followed by the Anxiety Disorders group at 44.4%, and Schizophrenia group at 41.5% (χ2 = 38.084, p<0.001). Our study revealed the pervasive presence of BPD traits and symptoms among psychiatric outpatients, exhibiting distinctive distributions across gender, age, and diagnostic categories. These findings emphasize the significance of identifying and addressing BPD pathology in the clinical care of psychiatric outpatients.

Exposure to intimate partner violence during childhood has been linked to both intimate partner violence perpetration in adulthood and psychopathy. However, the role of psychopathy in the connection between exposure to intimate partner violence during childhood and later intimate partner violence perpetration is less understood. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between exposure to intimate partner violence during childhood, psychopathy, and the frequency of intimate partner violence perpetration while examining the mediating role of psychopathy. A sample of 245 men convicted of intimate partner violence in Portugal was recruited from prison and the community. Exposure to intimate partner violence was significantly associated with both the frequency of intimate partner violence perpetration in adulthood and psychopathy, and psychopathy was correlated with the frequency of intimate partner violence perpetration. Psychopathy did not act as a mediator in the relationship between exposure to intimate partner violence and the frequency of intimate partner violence perpetration. These findings underscore the significance of exposure to intimate partner violence during childhood and emphasize the necessity for increased attention to early adverse experiences that precede the development of maladaptive traits and behaviors.

A two-generation study: The transmission of attachment and young adults’ depression, anxiety, and social media addiction

Much research details the psychological risks to individuals exposed as children to intimate partner violence (IPV). However, resilience has been a neglected area of study within this population. This article details adaptive responses in six participants exposed to IPV in childhood. Adult attachment interviews (AAI) and follow-up semi-structured interviews analyzed using an interpretive thematic analysis revealed common themes relating to psychological defenses and adaptive strategies. Despite exposure to IPV in childhood, these six women were found to have secure attachment states of mind. Resilience was found not to be necessarily synonymous with the absence of distress. Despite the presence of suffering, it remained strongly associated with adaptive, robust defenses to manage distress and to retain caregiving relationships with parents. These defenses appeared to provide participants with ways to survive their traumatic environments and to remain connected to needed but frightening caregiving figures, and facilitated processing of trauma. Adaptation often entailed using compliance and caregiving responses in childhood in response to role reversal in parent-child relationships, but also the relinquishing of these roles in adulthood. Participants' abilities to coherently acknowledge and discuss their early experiences and retain compassion for their parents seemed linked to their abilities to attain some distance from troubling aspects of their pasts. In doing so, they separated from the unstable relationships of their parents, which fostered transitions to more integrated states of mind.

This study provides the first genetic association examination of borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits in children and adolescents (ages 9–15) using two independent samples of youth recruited from the general community. We tested the a priori hypothesis that the serotonin transporter promoter gene (5-HTTLPR) would relate specifically to BPD traits in youth. This association was hypothesized based on prior genetic association research with BPD adults and theory positing that emotion dysregulation may be a core risk process contributing to BPD. Youth provided DNA via buccal cells. Both youth and a parent completed self-report measures assessing youth's BPD traits and depressive symptoms. Results from both Study 1 (N = 242) and an independent replication sample of Study 2 (N = 144) showed that carriers of the short allele of 5-HTTLPR exhibited the highest levels of BPD traits. This relation was observed even after controlling for the substantial co-occurrence between BPD traits and depressive symptoms. This specific association between 5-HTTLPR and BPD traits among youth supports previous genetic associations with adults diagnosed with BPD and provides preliminary support for a developmental extension of etiological risk for BPD among youth.

Background: Romantic relationships are one of the most interesting areas of interpersonal functioning in people with borderline personality. The aim of this narrative review was to synthesise empirical findings on this issue. Sampling and Methods: The PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for pertinent materials published between 1980 and March 2016. Thirty articles met the inclusion criteria. Results: Several longitudinal and cross-sectional studies showed that people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) or BPD traits had more - but less prolonged - romantic relationships than people without BPD. The stable relationships of people with BPD or with BPD traits were also less satisfying and more hostile than those of people without BPD. People with BPD or BPD traits had relationships characterised by insecure attachment and passive-aggressive communications. Personality disorders and anxious attachment were more prevalent among the partners of people with BPD or with BPD traits when compared with partners of people without BPD. Conclusion: Unstable and chaotic romantic relationships are at the core of interpersonal dysfunction in BPD. More longitudinal research is needed to delineate the relationship between BPD symptoms and romantic relationship dysfunction, including the modulating role of the partner's clinical features in such an association.

Adults exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) in their childhood are often considered in studies to be a homogeneous group and are not questioned about the meanings that they give to IPV. This study focuses specifically on the 18–25 age group and seeks to answer the following questions: 1) How do young adults exposed to IPV explain what IPV meant to them? 2) In their opinion, which experiences in their life course contributed to construction of meanings?. Semi-structured interviews using an adaptation of the Life History Calendar were conducted with 35 young adults who were exposed to IPV in their childhood. Analysis was based on the Life Course Theory. Overall, the specific life courses of each young adult exposed to IPV helped us to better understand the nuances in the meanings they gave to IPV. The construction of these meanings relied on the context around IPV and on other trajectories constituting the life course (e.g., school, work, friendship). This construction seemed to rely on three processes: 1) an awareness process, 2) a process leading to greater trust in others, and 3) an empowerment process. These findings have generated new questions about the construction of these meanings and their impact on the consequences of IPV. Our findings could also lead practitioners to pay more attention to these meanings in order to better understand the reactions of individuals exposed to IPV.

Psychopathy and borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits are associated with coercion and manipulation within relationships. The authors investigated whether BPD traits were uniquely associated with manipulation for emotional closeness whereas psychopathy was used for the purpose of attaining physical closeness. A community sample (N = 164) reported on mating behaviors, psychopathic traits, and BPD traits. Hierarchical regressions were conducted to predict mating behaviors that would account for the overlap between psychopathy and BPD. Total psychopathic traits were associated with lower levels of relationship exclusivity, greater use of partner poaching, and perpetration of sexual coercion. Specifically, callousness and egocentricity were related to lower relationship exclusivity. BPD traits were associated with the use of mate retention strategies, mate poaching, and victimization in sexual coercion. These findings indicate that manipulative mating behaviors encompass tools to achieve sex and intimacy. Those with BPD traits use these tools for emotional closeness, whereas those with psychopathic traits use them to obtain physical closeness and gratification.