Predicting Borderline Personality Features on the Basis of Alexithymia and Attitude Toward Mother

Abstract

Background: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a serious illness characterized by emotional dysregulation, impulsivity and impaired interpersonal relationship. Yet, few studies have examined borderline personality features, concomitant alexithymia and impaired relationship toward parents in adolescents. Objectives: This article explored the association between alexithymia and attitude toward mother as predictive factors of borderline personality features in high school sample of students. Patients and Methods: Three hundred students (150 females, 150 males) with a mean age of 15.72 years, were selected via multistage random sampling. Data was collected by Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children, Toronto Alexithymia Scale and Child's Attitude toward Mother Scale. Analyzing data were performed using canonical correlation. Results: Structural coefficients showed that the pattern of high scores in borderline personality features correlated with the pattern of high scores in alexithymia and child's attitude toward mother. Therefore, the results showed that combination of low borderline personality features can probably decrease the likelihood of alexithymia and child's attitude toward mother. Conclusions: Alexithymia and child's attitude toward mother can predict borderline personality features and explain a considerable variance of the survival index.