Mothers of Mentally Ill Patients

Existing research (MacMurray, 1976; Teitelman, Glass, Blyn & Jenning, 1979; Saloff & Millward, 1983) has suggested that mothers of borderline personality disorder patients exhibit the following characteristics: emotional aloofness (coldness); emotional instability, and controlling behavior. This study assesses and compares these three characteristics in three samples of mothers: (1) mothers of patients with borderline personality disorder; (2) mothers of patients with schizophrenia; and (3) mothers of non-patient normals.

The conceptual model on which this study rests can be related to linkage between the characteristics of the mothers of borderline and the developmental impact they exert on their offspring. In this regard, it can be noted that a number of maternal personality characteristics and traits have been proposed as causative in the development of borderline psychopathology in offspring. Proposed characteristics and traits include: emotional instability (Stern, 1983); unresolved conflicts over separation-individuation manifesting themselves in dysfunctional parent-child interaction (Mahler, 1968); emotional coldness (Stern, 1973); oral aggression (Kernberg, 1977); withdrawal of emotional availability over autonomous child behavior paired with reinforcement of child's dependent behaviors (Masterson, 1972); inability of mother to provide emotional support (Kohut, 1977), intrusiveness and over-protectiveness (Chessick, 1966).

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Offspring. There are three dependent measures: (1) degree of emotional coldness as assessed by subjects' scores on the A scale of the 16PF; (2) degree of emotional instability/stability as measured by the C Scale of the 16PF; and (3) degree of controlling and domineering tendencies as measured by the E scale of the 16PF. Subject Selection Selection of Mothers of the Borderline Group Approximately 30 mothers of borderline offspring will serve as subjects in the study. These subjects will be drawn from treatment centers specializing in the treatment of borderline psychopathology, from general community mental health clinics, and from psychologists and psychiatrists in private practice. All relevant personnel (e.g. treatment center directors, clinic directors, private-practice therapists) will be contacted by the researcher and provided with a detailed explanation of the study. Relevant personnel will then be asked to become involved in the study by recommending participation in the study to their borderline patients. In the final subject sample, the offspring of all selected mothers will have met the criteria for borderline personality disorder as defined by DSM-III-R. For those patients receiving treatment at mental heal

Category: Medical - M