Abstract
BackgroundPeople suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) seem to have incoherent autobiographical narratives. Tentative evidence suggests that reduced narrative coherence of autobiographical memories is associated with insecure attachment. However, it remains unknown whether incoherent autobiographical narratives in people with BPD are coupled to experiences of childhood trauma, which is highly prevalent in BPD.MethodWe examined if written autobiographical memories in 26 female participants with BPD had reduced narrative coherence relative to 28 healthy female controls and whether more incoherent narratives were associated with childhood trauma.ResultsAs hypothesized, results showed that compared to controls, the autobiographical memories in participants with BPD had reduced narrative coherence, specifically inadequate orientation about the narrative and lack of narrative structure. More self-reported childhood adversity was coupled to lower orientation across groups whereas increased childhood adversity showed a specific relationship to lowered narrative structure in BPD participants.ConclusionWomen with BPD had incoherent autobiographical narratives, and reduced narrative coherence was associated with more self-reported childhood adversity, which appeared to explain the group differences.
Highlights
Autobiographical memories are the subjective recollections of experienced events that make up the building blocks of our personal life-narratives [1, 2]
Women with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) had incoherent autobiographical narratives, and reduced narrative coherence was associated with more self-reported childhood adversity, which appeared to explain the group differences
A longitudinal intervention study with focus on attachment style in people suffering from BPD showed that following 1 year of treatment with transference-focused psychotherapy, the BPD participants’ narrative coherence on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) increased significantly, which correlated with increases in self-reported reflective functioning and a more secure attachment style [17]
Summary
Autobiographical memories are the subjective recollections of experienced events that make up the building blocks of our personal life-narratives [1, 2]. The ability to convey episodic memories as coherent narratives develops throughout childhood and adolescence [12], and studies have shown that when mothers elaborate more while reminiscing about past events together with the child, those children generate more coherent narratives [13], have a more consistent selfconcept [14], display more secure attachments and have better impulse control [15]. Because insecure attachment and traumatic experiences in childhood are considered to increase the risk of developing BPD later in life [19, 20], self-reported experiences of abuse and neglect are perhaps coupled to more incoherent autobiographical narratives in adulthood. Tentative evidence suggests that reduced narrative coherence of autobiographical memories is associated with insecure attachment It remains unknown whether incoherent autobiographical narratives in people with BPD are coupled to experiences of childhood trauma, which is highly prevalent in BPD
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