Parenting Skills for Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

Preventing Maltreatment and Promoting Mental Health in Children of Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder - ProChild

The first disorder-specific parenting training program for mothers with Borderline Personality Disorder (M-BPD) is evaluated in a randomized controlled trial.

The training program is expected to have positive effects on parenting behavior, decrease the risk of maltreatment of the child, and improve emotion regulation in mothers at post treatment and at 6-month follow-up compared to a control group (treatment as usual; TAU).

Additionally, disorder-specific aspects of dysfunctional parenting behavior as well as BPD-specific aspects of child maltreatment are compared to a clinical control group (mothers with anxiety and/or depression, M-AD/D) and a healthy control group (M-CON).

To assess the differential development of parenting, the risk of maltreatment and emotion dysregulation in untreated M-BPD are compared to M-CON. The investigators expect the difference to increase over time, indicating a worsening in BPD parenting.

Inclusion criteria for mothers with BPD:

1. diagnosed with BPD (assessed via SCID-PD)
2. running or completed therapy for BPD symptoms
3. child between 6 months and 6 years
4. living with child or regular (weekly) contact

Exclusion criteria for the mothers with BPD

1. Acute child endangerment
2. maternal acute suicidality
3. maternal psychotic symptoms (assessed via SCID-CV)
4. maternal acute alcohol or drug dependency (assessed via SCID-CV)
5. maternal diagnosed intellectual disability.

Inclusion criteria for mothers with depression and/or anxiety disorders:

1. diagnosed with acute affective or anxiety disorder (assessed via SCID-CV)
2. child between 6 months and 6 years
3. living with child or regular (weekly) contact

Exclusion criteria for mothers with depression and/or anxiety disorders:

1. Acute child endangerment
2. maternal acute suicidality
3. maternal psychotic symptoms (assessed via SCID-CV)
4. maternal acute alcohol or drug dependency (assessed via SCID-CV)
5. maternal diagnosed intellectual disability
6. lifetime diagnosis of BPD (assessed via SCID-PD)

Inclusion criteria for healthy control group:

1. child between 6 months and 6 years
2. living with child or regular (weekly) contact

Exclusion criteria for the healthy control group:

1. Acute child endangerment
2. maternal acute suicidality
3. maternal psychotic symptoms (assessed via SCID-CV)
4. maternal acute alcohol or drug dependency (assessed via SCID-CV)
5. maternal diagnosed intellectual disability.
6. lifetime diagnosis of BPD (assessed via SCID-PD)
7. any acute mental disorder (assessed via SCID-CV)
8. current psychotherapy