Preschooler Emotion Regulation in the Context of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder
Phase: NA
Conditions: Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotional Problem
Sponsor: University of Oregon

Preschooler Emotion Regulation in the Context of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder 
Study Protocol  NCT03060902 
 
April 11, 2023 
 
 

 
 
Initial phone screening was conducted to ensure that all mothers were biological mothers with at 
least 50% physical custody of the target child since birth. During this call, all mothers also 
completed the 10-item McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-
BPD; Zanarini et al., 2003): scores ≥7 were required for the BPD groups and scores <2 were 
required for the HC group. In addition, mothers in the BPD group were asked about current 
treatment engagement and any mothers currently participating in DBT services were deemed 
ineligible. Eligibility was further determined during an in-person clinical intake, which included 
semi-structured diagnostic interviews for mothers. Trained research personnel administered the 
Structured Clinical Interview for the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental 
Disorders (DSM-5) (SCID-5; First, Williams, Karg, & Spitzer, 2016) and the Structured 
Interview for DSM-IV Personality (SIDP-IV; Pfohl, Blum, & Zimmerman, 1995) to determine 
eligibility. Approximately, 20% of intake interviews were double-coded from digital recordings 
and showed strong inter-rater reliability (Krippendorff’s α = .91). Mothers in the BPD group met 
at least three diagnostic criteria for BPD, with one of these three symptoms being affective 
instability or uncontrolled anger. HC mothers reported no history of psychiatric illness (e.g., 
depression, anxiety) currently or since their child’s conception, and showed no evidence of 
clinically significant ER difficulties as determined by scoring 0 on the affective instability and 
uncontrolled anger criteria on the SID-P. In addition, any mothers in a current psychotic or 
manic episode were deemed ineligible. All mothers and children also completed the Peabody 
Picture Vocabulary Test Fourth Edition (PPVT-IV; Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and the Expressive 
Vocabulary Test Second Edition (EVT-2; Williams, 1997) to provide an estimate of IQ. All 
eligible participants demonstrated standard scores ≥70. Eligible mothers who were in the BPD 
group were then randomized to receive DBT Skills or Family Services As Usual.  
Those who were eligible were enrolled to complete four laboratory assessments (baseline, 4-
month, 8-month, and 12-month followups). This assessment schedule paralleled the 12-month 
DBT treatment schedule (described below). Assessments were conducted by research assistants 
blinded to mother’s group status and included questionnaires to assess maternal ER and 
behavioral tasks that assessed each of the four child ER domains (described below). Mothers also 
provided contact information for their child’s preschool teacher or daycare provider. Following 
the baseline and 12-month laboratory assessment, teachers or daycare providers were contacted 
and asked to complete an online questionnaire assessing internalizing and externalizing problems 
observed in the preschool/daycare setting.