Borderline personality disorder and couple dysfunctions

Abstract

The central characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are bound to be associated with the development and maintenance of couple dysfunction. Although seven of the nine diagnostic criteria of BPD in the DSM-IV-TR refer directly to interpersonal functioning, very few empiric studies have addressed the exact nature of the relationship between BPD and couple functioning. This article examines recent studies describing couple outcomes--union formation and durability, partner choice, relationship satisfaction, intimate violence, attachment security, and sexual functioning--associated with BPD. The relationship between couple dynamics (including partner personality characteristics) and BPD symptomatology is probably bidirectional or reciprocal. The review concludes with an exploration of diagnostic and treatment implications.

Romantic Relationships of People with Borderline Personality: A Narrative Review

“…Most of these studies have been focused on delineating the clinical characteristics of emotional dysregulation among people with BPD [5][6][7][8][9] . Similarly, other BPD symptoms such as chaotic relationships, fear of abandonment, or rejection have been the subject of significant amounts of research by psychodynamic and phenomenological approaches [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] .…”

“…Certainly, insecure attachment is considered the most frequent attachment style in people with BPD when compared with people with other personality disorders [17] . Also, this attachment style appears to mediate the association between BPD psychopathology (e.g., emotional dysregulation, fear of abandonment, suspiciousness) and the non-consolidation of interpersonal relationships, especially romantic relationships within this clinical population [6,7,[24][25][26] . Regarding this issue, transference-focused therapy aims to deal with current transference into therapy within the patient-clinician relationship as a way to restore prior disruptive bonds [27] .…”

“…Specifically, studies in community samples show that several clinical variables such as commitment, communication, and emotional and sexual intimacy of both partners are crucial to better understanding the extent to which romantic relationships may be healthy or unhealthy [51][52][53] . Also, there are no up-todate narrative reviews about romantic dysfunction in BPD which display the main findings of the last 8 years [6,7] . Accordingly, the main aim of this narrative review was to provide an up-to-date review of research on the variables which characterise the romantic relationships of people with borderline personality (individuals with a diagnosis of BPD and individuals with BPD traits).…”

Reduced Sensitivity to Emotional Facial Expressions in Borderline Personality Disorder: Effects of Emotional Valence and Intensity

“…Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by severe interpersonal dysfunction (Bouchard & Sabourin, 2009), which has been discussed to be linked to impairments in social cognition. Nevertheless, clinicians often describe BPD patients as being highly sensitive to the emotional and intentional states of others, i.e., superior in the recognition of emotions and intentions.…”

Biting the hand that feeds: current opinion on the interpersonal causes, correlates, and consequences of borderline personality disorder

“…Studies find that adults with borderline traits have disrupted social networks 65 , impaired couple relationships 66 , social anxiety 67 , and difficulties trusting others 68 and also struggle to form attachments with and manage their own children 69– 75 . Adolescents with borderline traits experience peer problems 76 , parent–child relationship struggles 22, 77 , and sexual “compulsivity” 78 and have problems with romantic partners 79 .…”