Little empirical work has explored the relation between destructive sibling conflict and conduct problems in children. This study used a measure of observed sibling conflict to examine its relations with maternal and teacher report of conduct problems in a low-income sample of 180 five-year-old boys and their close-age siblings. Early report of behavior problems and rejecting parenting were added to the analyses to control for these predictors and to examine interactive effects. The interaction between destructive sibling conflict and rejecting parenting predicted aggressive behavior problems across time and informants such that a rise in aggression scores was evident for children who had high levels of both sibling conflict and rejecting parenting. Sibling conflict was also directly related longitudinally to the Child Behavior Checklist Delinquency factor. Results are discussed in terms of additive risk models and G. R. Patterson's (1984, 1986) theory of coercion.

General Aim-We examined interpersonal experiences of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) using a time-contingent diary procedure to collect information about social interactions for 7 days.Method-We examined the (1) quantity of social interactions and (2) interpersonal and emotional experiences during social interactions for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD; N=42) compared to those with another personality disorder (OPD; N=46) and those without significant personality pathology (NOPD; N=23).Results-Results suggested that BPD patients have fewer social contacts compared to those in the NOPD group. Additionally, the BPD patients characterized their social interactions as more disagreeable, ambivalent, angry, empty, and sad compared to the OPD and NOPD groups. BPD patients reported experiencing more anxiety and less positive affect compared to the NOPD but not the OPD group.Conclusion-These findings highlight aspects of day-to-day interpersonal functioning that are specific to BPD. KeywordsBorderline personality disorder; social interactions; Rochester Interaction Record Chronic difficulties in interpersonal relationships are a core dimension of borderline personality disorder (BPD; Gunderson, 2007;Gunderson & Lyons-Ruth, 2008). Interpersonal difficulties do not exhaust the features associated with BPD: difficulties in impulse control and emotion regulation and impairments in social responsibilities also play central roles. However, interpersonal relationships do include aspects of chronicity, style, and functional impairment that are apparent to both patients and significant others. The DSM-IV describes the relationships of persons with BPD as fraught with intensity, fears of abandonment, and oscillations between idealization and devaluation of important figures. These interactions are likely to be characterized by hostility, disagreement, and ambivalence (Gunderson, 2007).The empirical examination of interpersonal problems in BPD has generally relied upon global assessments of social functioning (e.g., Skodol et al. 2004;Zanarini et al. 2005;Cramer et al. 2006). When examining role functioning by social domain, Hill et al. (2007) demonstrated that individuals with BPD experience decreased functioning across work/school, friendship, and romance. However, when compared to individuals with other personality and axis I disorders, only dysfunction in romantic relationships was specific to BPD. Clifton et al. (2007) found that the number of individuals in the BPD patients' social networks did not differ from those without a personality disorder. However, they did find differences in the

The relationships among adult attachment styles, interpersonal problems, and categories of suicide-related behaviors (i.e., self-harm, suicide attempts, and their co-occurrence) were examined in a predominantly psychiatric sample (N= 406). Both anxious and avoidant attachment styles were associated with interpersonal problems. In turn, specific interpersonal problems differentially mediated the relations between attachment style and type of suicide-related behaviors. These findings suggest the importance of distinguishing between these groups of behaviors in terms of etiological pathways, maintenance processes, and treatment interventions.

Proposals suggest that many or all of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM–IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) personality disorders (PDs) may be omitted from the DSM (5th ed.; DSM–V ) and replaced with a dimensional trait model of personality pathology (Krueger, Skodol, Livesley, Shrout, & Huang, 2007; Skodol, 2009). Several authors have expressed concerns that this may be difficult for clinicians and researchers who are more comfortable with the extant PD diagnoses. In this study, we tested whether clinician ratings of traits from the Five-factor model (FFM; Costa & McCrae, 1990) can be used to recreate DSM–IV PDs. Using a sample of 130 clinical outpatients, we tested the convergent and discriminant validity of the FFM PD counts in relation to consensus ratings of the DSM–IV PDs. We then examined whether the FFM and DSM–IV PD scores correlate in similar ways with self-reported personality traits from the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (Clark, 1993). Finally, we tested the clinical utility of the FFM PD counts in relation to functional impairment. Overall, the FFM PD counts, scored using clinician ratings of the FFM traits, appeared to function like the DSM–IV PDs, thus suggesting that the use of a dimensional trait model of personality in the DSM–V may still allow for an assessment of the DSM–IV PD constructs.

Research on the development of self-regulation has focused primarily on the roles of maternal behavior and attention, but cognitive understanding of the self is also likely to contribute, as is exposure to maternal depression. In this study toddlers' understanding of self-as-object and understanding of agency were assessed behaviorally at both 20 and 27 months ( N = 100). Maternal warmth during interactions was also observed at both ages. Half of the toddlers had been exposed to maternal depression. At 34 months toddlers' self-regulation was assessed behaviorally. As expected, toddlers' early understanding of the self (both self-as-object and agency) as well as maternal warmth predicted self-regulation later in toddlerhood. Maternal depression, however, was not associated with self-regulation. These findings provide empirical support for the theoretical construct of the self-system and suggest that early cognitive understanding of the self enables toddlers to better regulate their behavior.

Despite substantial research use, measures of the five-factor model (FFM) are infrequently used in clinical settings due, in part, to issues related to administration time and a reluctance to use self-report instruments. The current study examines the reliability and validity of the Five-Factor Model Score Sheet (FFMSS), which is a 30-item clinician rating form designed to assess the five domains and 30 facets of one conceptualization of the FFM. Studied in a sample of 130 outpatients, clinical raters demonstrated reasonably good interrater reliability across personality profiles and the domains manifested good internal consistency with the exception of Neuroticism. The FFMSS ratings also evinced expected relations with self-reported personality traits (e.g., FFMSS Extraversion and Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality Positive Temperament) and consensus-rated personality disorder symptoms (e.g., FFMSS Agreeableness and Narcissistic Personality Disorder). Finally, on average, the FFMSS domains were able to account for approximately 50% of the variance in domains of functioning (e.g., occupational, parental) and were even able to account for variance after controlling for Axis I and Axis II pathology. Given these findings, it is believed that the FFMSS holds promise for clinical use.

Emotional dysregulation and attachment insecurity have been reported in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Domain disorganization, evidenced in poor regulation of emotions and behaviors in relation to the demands of different social domains, may be a distinguishing feature of BPD. Understanding the interplay between these factors may be critical for identifying interacting processes in BPD and potential subtypes of BPD. Therefore, we examined the joint and interactive effects of anger, preoccupied attachment, and domain disorganization on BPD traits in clinical sample of 128 psychiatric patients. The results suggest that these factors contribute to BPD both independently and in interaction, even when controlling for other personality disorder traits and Axis I symptoms. In regression analyses, the interaction between anger and domain disorganization predicted BPD traits. In recursive partitioning analyses, two possible paths to BPD were identified: high anger combined with high domain disorganization and low anger combined with preoccupied attachment. These results may suggest possible subtypes of BPD or possible mechanisms by which BPD traits are established and maintained.Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to Jennifer Q. Morse, Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptAnger, preoccupied attachment, and domain disorganization in borderline personality disorderEmotional dysregulation (ED) is central to most conceptual and theoretical formulations of the underlying processes in borderline personality disorder (BPD) and may be a 'prime driver or underlying constitutional predisposition ' (Putnam & Silk, 2005). This is supported by evidence from retrospective studies (Reich & Zanarini, 2001) and cross-sectional investigations (Brown, Comtois, & Linehan, 2002; Ebner-Priemer, Kuo, Kleindienst, Welch, Reisch, Reinhard, Lieb, Linehan, & Bohus, 2007;Russell, Moskowitz, Zuroff, Sookman, & Paris, 2007).. ED has been conceptualized in diverse ways, however, and alternative conceptualizations vary in the importance they attribute to the interpersonal context in which emotions are regulated. At one end of the spectrum is the view that interpersonal relationships and ED are closely and inevitably intertwined. The exemplar is attachment theory, which some proponents argue is "fundamentally about emotional experiences and their regulation" (Tidwell, Reis, & Shaver, 1996, p.729). In this view, insecure attachment styles (especially preoccupied, unresolved, and disorganized variants) are likely to be associated with ED (Levy, 2005;Levy, Meehan, Weber, Reynoso, & Clarkin, 2005). At the opposite pole is the view that negative emotionality or neuroticism shapes both subjective experience and expressive style and permeates both social and non-social contexts uniformly. In this view, a predisposition to intense, negative affect and limited capacity for executive control o...

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