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. 2013 Apr 30;206(2-3):273-81.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.09.030. Epub 2012 Nov 2.

Borderline symptoms and suicidality/self-injury in late adolescence: prospectively observed relationship correlates in infancy and childhood

Karlen Lyons-Ruth  1 , Jean-Francois Bureau, Bjarne Holmes, Ann Easterbrooks, Nancy Hall Brooks
Affiliations

Borderline symptoms and suicidality/self-injury in late adolescence: prospectively observed relationship correlates in infancy and childhood

Karlen Lyons-Ruth et al. Psychiatry Res. .

Abstract

The primary objective was to assess whether prospectively observed quality of parent-child interaction in infancy and middle childhood contributed to the prediction of borderline symptoms and recurrent suicidality/self-injury in late adolescence. Adolescents (mean 19.9 years) from 56 families participating in a longitudinal study since infancy (retention rate 74%) were assessed on the SCID-II for symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD), including suicidality/self-injury. Early clinical risk was indexed by clinical referral to parent-infant services. Attachment security and parent-child interaction were assessed from videotape at 18 months and 8 years. Severity of childhood abuse was rated from interview and self-report measures. Maternal withdrawal in infancy was a significant predictor of both borderline symptoms and suicidality/self-injury in late adolescence. Disorganized controlling child behavior at age 8 contributed independently to the prediction of borderline symptoms. The effect of maternal withdrawal was independent of, and additive to, variability explained by severity of childhood abuse. Borderline symptoms and suicidality/self-injury may be preceded developmentally by disturbed interactions as early as 18 months of age. A parent-child transactional model is proposed to account for the findings.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Severity of Abuse Does Not Mediate the Effect of Early Maternal Withdrawal on Later Borderline Symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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