Reflective function as a mediator between childhood adversity, personality disorder and symptom distress

Abstract

A growing body of literature has indicated the central role of childhood adversity for the development in later life of personality disorder (PD) and psychiatric distress. In this investigation, we examine the role of reflective function (RF) as a mediator between childhood adversity, subsequent development of PD and psychiatric morbidity. We tested the hypothesis that adversity leads to decreased RF, which in turn is associated with PD, and both increase the likelihood of psychiatric distress. The study sample consisted of 234 individuals, drawn from a clinical PD group (n = 112) and one demographically matched non-psychiatric group (n = 122) using a shared battery of measures, which included the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the Symptom Checklist-90-R and the Adult Attachment Interview, which was used to assess RF levels. The results indicated that childhood adversity predicted low level of RF, which in turn was associated with PD onset later in life. A combination of different early adverse experiences had a significantly greater impact on lowering RF scores than experiencing either neglect or abuse alone. Mediation analyses confirmed that RF was a significant mediator between adversity and PD diagnoses and between adversity and psychiatric distress.