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Early maternal separation and the trajectory of borderline personality disorder symptoms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2009

Thomas N. Crawford ,
Patricia R. Cohen ,
Henian Chen ,
Deidre M. Anglin  and
Miriam Ehrensaft
Thomas N. Crawford*
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Patricia R. Cohen
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Henian Chen
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Deidre M. Anglin
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Miriam Ehrensaft
Affiliation:
New York State Psychiatric Institute
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Thomas N. Crawford, Children in the Community Study, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 100 Haven Avenue, Suite 31F, New York, NY 10032; E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Extended maternal separations before age 5 were evaluated as a predictor of long-term risk for offspring borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms in longitudinal data from a large random community sample. Early separations from mother predicted elevations in BPD symptoms assessed repeatedly from early adolescence to middle adulthood. Early separations also predicted a slower than normal rate of decline in symptoms with age. Other theoretically grounded risks were examined and shown to predict elevated BPD symptoms over the developmental trajectory. Long-term effects of early separations were largely independent of childhood temperament, child abuse, maternal problems, and parenting risks. These data provide the first prospectively collected data on the developmental course of BPD symptoms and suggest a series of environmental and other influences on these very disabling problems.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 21 , Issue 3: Precursors and Diverse Pathways to Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Part 1 , August 2009 , pp. 1013 - 1030
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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