Patterns of emotional availability between mothers and young children: Associations with risk factors for borderline personality disorder

Abstract

Emotional availability (EA) characterizes a warm, close relationship between caregiver and child. We compared patterns (clusters) of EA on risk factors, including those for borderline personality disorder (BPD). We sampled 70 children aged 4 to 7 years from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, 51% of whose mothers had BPD. We coded filmed interactions for EA: mothers' sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, non-hostility, and children's responsiveness to, and involvement of, mothers. We additionally coded children's -responsiveness and-involvement. Using person-centered analyses, we identified four clusters: , (mothers above average on two of four dimensions, children below) and . Mothers in the low-functioning cluster had lower income, less social support, more of the borderline feature of negative relationships and more depression than did mothers in the high-functioning cluster. The children in the low-functioning group had more risk factors for BPD (physical abuse, neglect, and separation from, or loss of caregivers, and negative narrative representations of the mother-child relationship in their stories) than did children in the high-functioning group. The asynchronous group included older girls who were-responsive and -involving with their mothers in an apparent role reversal. Interventions targeting emotional availability may provide a buffer for children facing cumulative risks and help prevent psychopathology.

A psychometric study of the Emotional Availability Scales: Construct validity and measurement invariance between depressed and nondepressed mother–infant dyads.

“…While our factor analyses were at the dimension, not subscale-item level, the first three editions of the EAS comprised single-item dimensions (descriptions available in ), not 42-indicators, highlighting the relevance of the current findings to the broad emotional availability literature. The implications of repeated reports of high collinearity between dimensions (e.g., Bornstein & Putnick, 2021; Bohr et al, 2018; Garvin et al, 2012; Trupe et al, 2018) can serve as an impetus for factor analysis at the subscale-item level to inform possible scale revision. The emotional availability framework includes a central tenet that an adult is unable to look good without the child except for among some atypical contexts, children with special needs or caregivers who experienced a period of separation from the child (e.g., adoption, foster care contexts; Biringen, 2008; Biringen et al, 2010).…”

Validez y consistencia interna del instrumento Vínculo entre padres e hijos neonatos

“…La importancia que tiene la consolidación del vínculo afectivo entre madres, padres e hijos durante los primeros días de vida, despierta especial interés para enfermería, ya que el nacimiento de un hijo requiere la reorganización de roles y el afrontamiento de sentimientos a nivel personal y familiar por parte de los padres; sin dejar de lado las diferencias que este comportamiento tiene en cuanto al género, la cultura, la edad, las condiciones psicosociales del entorno, condiciones de salud de los hijos, el medio hospitalario, entre otras razones, tal como lo afirman diversos expertos (19)(20)(21).…”

“…El establecimiento del vínculo afectivo entre las madres, los padres y su hijo nacido a término contribuye a la adecuada estructuración psíquica y cognitiva de los neonatos para su desarrollo y supervivencia durante todas las etapas del ciclo vital, generando a futuro seguridad, confianza, autoestima, madurez y responsabilidad como padre o madre (19,25,26).…”

Study protocol for a multi-center RCT testing a group-based parenting intervention tailored to mothers with borderline personality disorder against a waiting control group (ProChild*-SP1)

“…Preschoolers and schoolchildren of mothers with BPD show more fear of abandonment [ 21 ] and parent–child role reversal [ 18 ]. They endure more maltreatment in an interaction task [ 30 ] compared to children of a healthy control group. In another study, mothers with BPD reported that their 4–7-year-old children had higher negative affectivity and lower effortful control compared to children of healthy mothers [ 31 ].…”