A Developmental Psychopathology and Neurobiological Model of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence

Abstract

The antecedents and risk factors and for developing borderline personality disorder (BPD) are now well documented, but there is a paucity of developmental models to understand the key processes through which they impact on the development of BPD in adolescents. In this article, we present a developmental psychopathology model of BPD in adolescence and link the difficulties adolescents with BPD have with impulsivity and self regulation, with risk factors such as genetic vulnerability, parenting and trauma. We propose a number of psychological processes through which these risk factors undermine personal and interpersonal functioning, and makes it particularly difficult to engage with the challenges of adolescence. These key psychological processes undermine the integration of the self, with extreme unintegrated affects and extreme representations of self and others, undermining the capacity to mentalize. We then make links to possible neurobiological underpinnings of the disturbances in affect, Theory of Mind and interpersonal difficulties in adolescents with BPD.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karin Ensink

Karin Ensink, PhD, is a professor of Child Psychology at Université Laval, Québec, Canada. Her research focuses on the the development of mentalization in the context of trauma and its implications for child psychopathology and the development of personality disorders

Marko Biberdzic

Lina Normandin, PhD, is a professor of Child Psychology at Université Laval, Québec, Canada, the director of TFP in Quebec, and the developer of TFP for Adolescents. Her research focuses on personality disorders, trauma and countertransference.

Lina Normandin

Marko Biberdzic is a Clinical Psychology PhD student at Université Laval, Québec, Canada, doing his research on the assessment of personality disorders and personality organization in adolescents.

John Clarkin

John Clarkin, PhD, is the Co-Director of the Personality Disorders Institute at the Department of Psychiatry of Weill Cornell Medical College.