Maladaptive parenting has been shown to be a relevant factor in the etiology of mental disorders, especially in patients with personality disorders (e.g. borderline personality disorder). At the same time, parents with mental disorders often have difficulties in addressing their offspring’s needs and show maladaptive parenting themselves.
In this symposia, different aspects in the context of parenting and psychopathology will be addressed. Whereas two presentations will focus on transdiagnostic as well as borderline specific components of parenting (Sabine Herpertz, Heidelberg University, Germany; Jana Zitzmann, Free University Berlin, Germany; Julie Eden, University of Warwick, UK), the other two contributions will introduce newly developed parenting interventions (Kayle Steele, University of Wollongong; Australia; Charlotte Rosenbach, Free University Berlin, Germany).
Main aims of this symposia are at the one hand to bring light into the processes of the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology though dysfunctional parenting strategies, and to secondly find new approaches to interrupt these processes.
The influence of personality pathology and early traumatization on parenting behavior
Sabine C. Herpertz1), Isabella Schneider1), Corinne Neukel1), Michael Kaess3), Svenja Taubner2), Anna Georg2), Felix Bermpohl4)
1)Dept. of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg University; 2)Dept. of Psychosocial Prevention, Heidelberg University; 3)Dept. of Child and Adolescence Psychiatry, Bern University; 4) Dept. of Psychiatry, Charité Berlin
Data on parenting behavior and parental attitudes, parental stress as well as parental mentalization ability in addition to psychopathological status and possible traumatization in childhood will be presented from a sample of transdiagnostic psychiatric inpatients with children between 1.5 and 15 years of age. Furthermore, data on female patients with borderline personality disorder while interacting with their infant will be reported supplemented by hormonal and fMRI data. Studies are conducted prior to participation in a parent training program that aims to increase parental sensitivity by strengthening mentalization skills.
Exploring maternal mind-mindedness in mothers with a borderline personality disorder compared to a clinical and healthy control group
Jana Zitzmann 1, Anna Georg2, Charlotte Rosenbach1, and Babette Renneberg1
1) Dep. of Clinical Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, 2)Dept. of Psychosocial Prevention, Heidelberg University;
Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are assumed to show impairments in their capacity to mentalize. In the context of parenthood, a mother’s capacity to treat her infant as an individual with a mind instead of solely focusing on satisfying her infant’s needs (Mind‐Mindedness; Meins, 1997) plays a central role. In a pilot study, we aimed to investigate Mind-Mindedness among mothers with BPD and explore whether there are differences in their Mind-Mindedness compared to a group of mothers with a depressive or an anxiety disorder and to mothers without a mental disorder. Baseline data were derived from a larger intervention study. Amongst other assessments, mothers performed a Five-Minutes Speech Sample (FMSS) about the question how they describe their child and their mutual relationship (Magana et al., 1986). Based on the representational Mind-Mindedness Coding Manual (Meins & Fernyhough, 2015) and the FMSS Mind-Mindedness Coding Manual (Georg, Bruno, Taubner, & Hauschild, 2020), we developed and applied a measure for observer-rated Mind-Mindedness utilized on the transcripts of the FMSS encompassing four dimensions: Mind-minded speech, self- versus child-related, not-knowing stance, and valence. Results on how mothers with BPD employ mind-related speech according to the dimensions will be presented along with group comparisons.
The emotional availability of mothers with borderline personality disorder and their children
Julie Eyden
Dep. of Psychology, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
This study observed mothers with BPD, depression or no mental illness in play with their children. Recordings were coded for both mother and child from an emotional availability (EA) domain and category perspective. Analyses also looked at the association between maternal EA and mother's parenting knowledge. Mothers with BPD were often categorised as complicated EA, and were less sensitive, less structuring, more intrusive, and more hostile than healthy comparison mothers. Their children also experienced EA difficulties although these appeared to not directly relate to the mother's mental health difficulties.
Development and piloting of a group parenting intervention for BPD
Kayla Steele (1), Dianna Bartsch (2), Cathy McLeod Everitt (2), Dominic Kleinig (2), Charlotte van Schie (1), Michelle Townsend (1) and Brin Grenyer (1)
Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience additional challenges in their parenting role, and brief therapeutic interventions focused on parenting may assist them to address these difficulties. However, there is currently a need for more evaluation data on groups focused on parenting with BPD. In light of this gap, we developed a four-session group parenting intervention, Coming up for AIR (CUFA), for individuals with BPD. The intervention includes psychoeducation and experiential exercises related to affect regulation, identity or role as a parent, interpersonal relationships and transgenerational relationship patterns. This presentation will discuss the results of a pilot group (N=8 case studies) assessing the feasibility of this brief group parenting intervention, focusing on the three key areas of implementation, acceptability and initial efficacy.
Development of an online intervention for parents with mental disorders
Charlotte Rosenbach1, and Babette Renneberg1
1) Dep. of Clinical Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Parental mental distress is one of the main risk factors for child psychopathology, and parents with mental problems report high parental stress and often apply dysfunctional parenting strategies. In the last decade, the necessity to develop and provide help for parents with mental disorders has gained more attention, and promising interventions are being developed (e.g. “Parenting Skills for Mothers with BPD: A Group Training”; Rosenbach, Buck-Horstkotte, Renneberg, 2020). Additional to face-to-face (group) interventions, online interventions can help affected parents to improve their parenting skills and reduce parental stress. To optimize content and design of (online) interventions, patient participation is required.
We will present a first concept of an online intervention for parents with high mental distress and include results from focus groups conducted with this population as well as with professionals working with parents with mental disorders.