Disorganized Attachment Interactions Among Young Adults With Borderline Personality Disorder, Other Diagnoses, and No Diagnosis

Abstract

Theorists have suggested that attachment disorganization contributes to the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, few studies have directly observed attachment-related interactions with parents. This study used a newly developed attachment-based coding system to examine whether individuals with BPD were more likely to exhibit disorganized interactions with their mothers than those with (a) other diagnoses (anxiety, depressive, or substance use diagnoses) or (b) no diagnosis. Results indicated that participants with BPD had a greater likelihood of disorganized attachment interactions than did both comparison groups. The odds ratio for disorganized attachment among BPD participants was almost 8 times that of participants without BPD. These results underscore the utility of observational assessments to capture the interpersonal features of BPD and highlight the potential value of examining the developmental trajectories of disorganized and controlling attachment behavior in order to identify pathways toward BPD.

Keywords: attachment; borderline personality disorder; disorganization; interpersonal; observation.