"There is not much help for mothers like me": Parenting Skills for Mothers with Borderline Personality Disorder - a newly developed group training program.

Babette Renneberg,Charlotte Rosenbach

doi:10.1186/s40479-016-0050-4

Abstract

BackgroundDysfunctional relationships and emotion dysregulation are hallmark features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Women with BPD are, therefore, particularly challenged when raising a child. A group training program was developed for mothers with BPD to enhance their parenting skills and help them raise their children. The program is based on cognitive-behavioral principles and skills derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).Methods N = 15 mothers with BPD who had young children (aged 0–6 years) participated in a 12-week training program. To estimate the participants’ impairment, parental stress and psychological distress were assessed before the training. After the training, participants and trainers were asked to provide feedback regarding the evaluation of and the changes due to the training.ResultsParticipants’ self-reported stress related to parenting, as well as psychological distress and depressive symptoms, was high. Participants’ acceptance of the program was very good. Especially role plays were rated as useful. Trainers evaluated the program as helpful and reported visible changes in participants’ behavior and attitudes towards parenting.ConclusionsThe results on the acceptance of the training program are promising.Trial registration NCT02935218, Unique Protocol ID: RenRos01Initial release 80 August 2016, last release 13 October 2016; ‘retrospectively registered’

Highlights

Dysfunctional relationships and emotion dysregulation are hallmark features of borderline personality disorder (BPD)
Participants regarded role plays as helpful, as well as the possibility to exchange with other mothers with BPD, to speak about taboos, to gain new knowledge and to engage in homework
After the training mothers reported to be better able to cope with feelings and with stress, to feel less tension in the interaction with their children and to be calmer

Summary

Introduction

Dysfunctional relationships and emotion dysregulation are hallmark features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). A group training program was developed for mothers with BPD to enhance their parenting skills and help them raise their children. The daily life of women with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by recurring and frequent changes in mood, self-image, and identity. The program is designed to enhance the mothers’ parenting skills by Renneberg and Rosenbach Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation (2016) 3:16 teaching them about the primary needs of the child, coping with stress, emotion regulation, and self-care. Compared to a healthy control group, mothers with BPD showed more affective dysregulation in the communication with their children as well as more critical and intrusive behaviors, role confusion, and frightened/frightening behaviors [8]. A reduced ability of mothers with BPD to think about their children’s mental state (“mind-mindedness”) compared to healthy controls was observed [9]

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Results

Conclusion