Affiliation:
1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Region Sjaelland and University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
2. Psychology Department The New School for Social Research New York New York State USA
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundAttachment theory has served as an influential framework for understanding psychopathology, partly due to reliable assessment methodology. The influence of insecure attachment on attitudes toward the body and the impact this might have for the development of psychopathology is however less well elucidated.MethodA total of 123 adolescents (35 with borderline personality disorder or BPD, 25 with other personality disorders [OPD] and 63 comprising a normative control group) were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Mirror Interview (MI). The MI questions respondents about how they feel about their bodies, as they look in the mirror.ResultsThe AAIs from the Borderline group were predominantly insecure‐preoccupied and unresolved. These adolescents had significantly lower levels of a positive and integrated sense of self and body than the other groups. Regression results revealed a high loving relationship with fathers, low involving anger with father, high coherence of mind, slight derogation of mother & low levels of unresolved loss uniquely and additively predicted 55% of variance in the summary score assigned to MI responses, that is, the summary score for a Positive and Integrated Body Representation (PIBR).ConclusionUnfavorable attachment experiences and current states of mind regarding attachment may give rise to problems with establishing PIBRs, and thus play a role in the development of psychopathology, especially BPD.