Early experience, structural dissociation, and emotional dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: the role of insecure and disorganized attachment
Open accessAbstract
Persistent problems in emotional regulation and interpersonal relationships in borderline patients can be understood as developing from difficulties in early dyadic regulation with primary caregivers. Early attachment patterns are a relevant causal factor in the development of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Links between attachment issues, early history of neglect, and traumatic experiences, and symptoms observed in patients with BPD as per the DSM-5 classification (American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (Fifth ed.). Washington, D.C; (2013)) are described in this article, while delineating possible pathways from attachment disruptions to the specific symptomatology of these patients. The theory of structural dissociation of the personality (TSDP) provides an essential framework for understanding the processes that may lead from insecure early attachment to the development and maintenance of BPD symptoms. Dyadic parent-child interactions and subsequent modulation of emotion in the child and future adult are considered closely related, but other factors in the development of BPD, such as genetic predisposition and traumatic experiences, should also be considered in conceptualizing and organizing clinical approaches based on a view of BPD as a heterogeneous disorder.
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"Transient dissociative symptoms related to extreme stress and real or imagined abandonment" are cardinal symptoms of BPD, although tending to occur primarily for BPD-diagnosed individuals who have a history of childhood abuse.
““Transient dissociative symptoms related to extreme stress and real or imagined abandonment” ([3], p. 664) are cardinal symptoms of BPD, although tending to occur primarily for BPD-diagnosed individuals who have a history of childhood abuse [91, 119].”
From Complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [119]
The Review section on attachment and self-regulation associates a dissociative subtype of BPD with disorganized attachment, and the Review section on differential effects links extreme dissociation to disorganized attachment combined with persistent childhood neglect and trauma. The paper does not establish that transient dissociative symptoms occur primarily in BPD patients with a history of childhood abuse specifically; its account also includes neglect and attachment disruption. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAttachment disorganization and emotion dysregulation both have been shown to be related to pathological dissociation.
“Attachment disorganization [15, 115, 119] and emotion dysregulation [68, 69, 119, 188] both have been shown to be related to pathological dissociation.”
From Complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [119]
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References 72 · Cited by 61
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [23]Allport GW Personality and Social Encounter 1981 Chicago University of Chicago Press
- [36]Crittenden PM Peering into the Black Box: An Exploratory Treatise on the Development of the Self in Young Children Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology 1997
- Authors
- Mosquera, D., Gonzalez, A., & Leeds, A. M.
- Corresponding author
- Mosquera, Dolores
- ORCID
- Leeds, Andrew M
- Venue
- Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 15
- ISSN
- 2051-6673 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4579498
- OpenAlex
- W2102526501
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 4.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Keywords
- borderline personality disorder, emotional dysregulation, structural dissociation, insecure attachment, disorganized attachment, early attachment, parent-child interaction, child neglect, trauma, genetic susceptibility
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