Maternal borderline personality disorder symptoms and convergence between observed and reported infant negative emotional expressions.

Abstract

To date, the influence of maternal borderline personality disorder (BPD) on perceptions of infants’ emotional expressions has not been examined. This study investigated the relation of maternal BPD symptoms to discrepancies between mother-reported and observed infant expressions of fear and anger. Emotional expressions in response to fear- and anger-eliciting stimuli were observed among 101 12–23 month old infants of mothers with a range of BPD symptoms. Mothers also reported on their infants’ past-month fear and anger expressions. Findings from polynomial regression analyses revealed that maternal BPD symptoms (particularly BPD interpersonal symptoms) are associated with greater convergence of mother-reported and observed infant anger expressions. Furthermore, although maternal BPD symptoms were not related to discrepancies between mother-reported and observed infant fear, findings did reveal a relation between maternal BPD symptoms and observed infant fear expressions, such that maternal BPD symptoms related to both low and high (vs. moderate) levels of fear expressions in the laboratory. Moreover, BPD behavioral symptoms in particular were associated with greater convergence of mother-reported and observed infant fear expressions. Overall, findings contribute to the literature on the impact of maternal BPD on parenting and infant outcomes, and highlight the relevance of maternal BPD symptoms to discrepancies between perceived and observed infant negative emotional expressions.

Examining the impact of online rejection among emerging adults with borderline personality pathology: Development of a novel online group chat social rejection paradigm.

“…As shown in Table 1, the percentage of participants reporting at least moderate impairment from each BPD symptom ranged from 11.3% (for intense anger) to 40.6% (for unstable relationships). Severity of BPD pathology within this sample was comparable to other nonclinical community samples (Whalen, Kiel, Tull, Latzman, & Gratz, 2015). 3…”

“…3Severity of BPD symptoms (as indexed by endorsement of at least moderate impairment on the BEST) within this sample did not differ significantly from the nonclinical community sample in Whalen et al’s (2015) study (χ 2 s < 2.17, p s > .05), with one exception: The rate of moderate impairment for the symptom of intense anger was lower in this sample than in Whalen et al’s sample, χ 2 (1, 106) = 10.78, p = .001.…”

Emotion Socialization Strategies of Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms: The Role of Maternal Emotion Regulation and Interactions With Infant Temperament

“…These findings are consistent with past research indicating a heightened sensitivity to anger cues and a bias toward the perception of anger in BPD (Domes et al, 2008;Sharp & Vanwoerden, 2015;Veague & Hooley, 2014), and suggest that it could be the misattribution of or bias toward perceiving anger in infants that relates to nonsupportive responses to infant negative emotions among mothers with high BPD symptoms. Alternatively, recent research specifically with infants suggests that maternal BPD symptoms are associated with greater convergence between laboratory-assessed and mother-reported infant anger (Whalen, Kiel, Tull, Latzman, & Gratz, 2015). Thus, whereas mothers with low BPD symptoms may minimize their reports of infant anger, mothers with high BPD symptoms may experience a heightened sensitivity to or recognition of anger that is actually present.…”

A systematic review of the parenting and outcomes experienced by offspring of mothers with borderline personality pathology: Potential mechanisms and clinical implications

“…In particular, neutral infant expressions were more often perceived as sad (Elliot et al, 2014). Another study looked at discrepancies between mother-reported and researcher observed infant expressions (Whalen, Kiel, Tull, Latzman, & Gratz, 2015). Findings showed that as maternal BPD symptom severity increased, there was greater convergence between mother-reported and observed infant anger.…”