also significant group differences in 3-way (secure, preoccupied, dismissive), χ2 (2, N = 62) = 19.04, p < .001, and 4-way (secure, preoccupied, dismissive, unresolved), χ2 (3, N = 62) = 13.49, p < .01 classifications. Follow up tests revealed that mothers in the BPD group were more likely to be classified as preoccupied in 3-way, χ2 (1, N = 62) = 13.81, p < .001, and unresolved in 4-way, χ2 (1, N = 62) = 4.35, p < .05 classifications than were comparisons. For Hypothesis 2, we tested group differences on the continuous AAI preoccupied/unresolved and dismissive dimensions with two analyses of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for current mood, anxiety, other personality disorders, and maternal education. As hypothesized, mothers with BPD scored significantly higher on the preoccupied/unresolved dimension (M = 4.18, SD = 1.36) than did normative comparisons (M = 2.46, SD = 1.14), F(1, 42) = 6.35, p < .05, η2 = .14. There was no significant difference between mothers with BPD (M = 3.97, SD = 1.24) and normative comparisons (M = 3.54, SD = 0.99) on the dismissive dimension, F(1, 42) = 1.93, p > .10, η2 = .03. For Hypothesis 3, associations between AAI dimensions and self-reported borderline features in the sample as a whole were tested with Pearson bivariate correlations. As hypothesized, the preoccupied/unresolved dimension was significantly correlated with all borderline features (affective instability, identity disturbance, negative relationships and self-harm). Also as hypothesized, the dismissive dimension was not significantly correlated with any of the borderline features. See Table 6 for correlation coefficients.
preoccupied/unresolved AAI dimension but not with the dismissive dimension. These narrative representations may in turn make the future development of BPD more likely. We also found that mothers’ observed parenting was significantly correlated with their children’s narrative representations of mother-child relationship expectations. This provides support for the intergenerational transmission of internal working models and additional validity for the narrative story-stem completion measure as reflecting children’s actual experience. Finally, as hypothesized, mothers’ parenting significantly mediated the relationship between mothers’ preoccupied/unresolved dimension on the AAI and their children’s narrative representations of fear of abandonment. Mothers’ anger associated with preoccupation with her difficult childhood experiences and a lack of resolution of losses and abuse suffered, may affect her ability to be sensitive, supportive of autonomy, and not hostile in parenting her child, thus contributing to the child’s own fear of abandonment. However, there was no meditational effect for parenting in the relationship between mothers’ preoccupied/unresolved dimension and role reversal. Other aspects of parenting such as the mother’s observed role reversal with her child, may mediate the relationship with role reversal instead. The conceptual similarity between domains of early childhood (attachment, and self-regulation) and domains of dysfunction in BPD was evident at the level of representation. Internal working models may be carried forward from mother to child and possibly influence the development of BPD in early adulthood. These pathways may be characterized by either homotypic or heterotypic continuity (). Examples of homotypic continuity include an incongruent sense of self, anger and dissociation, which
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Table 2 Current Axis I and II Disorders BPD N = 31 n (%) Normative Comparisons N = 31 n (%) Axis I Major depressive disorder 2 (7%) 0 Bipolar disorder 1 (3%) 0 Dysthymia 9 (29%) 0 Panic disorder 7 (23%) 0 Agoraphobia 1 (3%) 0 Social phobia 2 (7%) 0 Specific phobia 3 (10%) 0 Obsessive compulsive disorder 0 0 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 7 (23%) 0 Generalized anxiety disorder 12 (39%) 0 Axis II Avoidant 10 (32%) 0 Dependent 8 (26%) 0 Obsessive compulsive 11 (36%) 0
Table 4 Factor Loadings and Communalities Based on Principal Components Analysis with Varimax Rotation for 12 Variables from the AAI, N = 87 Preoccupied/ unresolved Dismissive Communality Missing (n) Anger- father .64 -.11 .43 7 Anger- mother .74 -.01 .55 1 Passivity .53 .07 .28 0 Unresolved loss .62 .17 .42 5 Unresolved trauma .74 -.01 .54 22 Coherence of mind* .72 .55 .82 0 Fear of loss .26 (dropped) -.11 .08 0 -.21 .57 .37 7 Idealization- mother -.28 .52 .34 1 Lack of recall .00 .75 .56 0 Metacognitive monitoring* .43 .66 .61 0
Table 7 Mediation of Maternal Caregiving Composite between Maternal AAI Preoccupied/unresolved Dimension and Child Narrative Representations N = 62 Independent variable (IV) Mediating variable (M) Dependent variable (DV) Total effect Effect of IV on M Effect of M on DV controlling for a Direct effect of IV on DV controlling for M Indirect effect, (95% confidence interval) X M Y c a b c' ab AAI preoccupied/unresolved dimension Maternal caregiving composite Fear of abandonment 0.18** -1.24*** -0.05** 0.12 0.07* (0.01-0.15) Role reversal 0.17* -1.24*** 0.02 0.19* -0.02 * p ≤.05: **p ≤ .01; ***p < .001. Unstandardized B coefficients are shown.