TY - JOUR
T1 - Attachment and mentalization in female patients with comorbid narcissistic and borderline personality disorder
AU - Diamond, Diana
AU - Clarkin, John F.
AU - Cain, Nicole M.
AU - Hörz, Susanne
AU - Levy, Kenneth N.
AU - Fischer-Kern, Melitta
AU - Doering, Stephan
AU - Buchheim, Anna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - We investigated attachment representations and the capacity for mentalization in a sample of adult female borderline patients with and without comorbid narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Participants were 22 borderline patients diagnosed with comorbid NPD (NPD/BPD) and 129 BPD patients without NPD (BPD) from 2 randomized clinical trials. Attachment and mentalization were assessed on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996). Results showed that as expected, compared with the BPD group, the NPD/BPD group was significantly more likely to be categorized as either dismissing or cannot classify on the AAI, whereas the BPD group was more likely to be classified as either preoccupied or unresolved for loss and abuse than was the NPD/BPD group. Both groups of patients scored low on mentalizing, and there were no significant differences between the groups, indicating that both NPD/BPD and BPD individuals showed deficits in this capacity. The clinical implications of the group differences in AAI classification are discussed with a focus on how understanding the attachment representations of NPD/BPD patients helps to illuminate their complex, contradictory mental states.
AB - We investigated attachment representations and the capacity for mentalization in a sample of adult female borderline patients with and without comorbid narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Participants were 22 borderline patients diagnosed with comorbid NPD (NPD/BPD) and 129 BPD patients without NPD (BPD) from 2 randomized clinical trials. Attachment and mentalization were assessed on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996). Results showed that as expected, compared with the BPD group, the NPD/BPD group was significantly more likely to be categorized as either dismissing or cannot classify on the AAI, whereas the BPD group was more likely to be classified as either preoccupied or unresolved for loss and abuse than was the NPD/BPD group. Both groups of patients scored low on mentalizing, and there were no significant differences between the groups, indicating that both NPD/BPD and BPD individuals showed deficits in this capacity. The clinical implications of the group differences in AAI classification are discussed with a focus on how understanding the attachment representations of NPD/BPD patients helps to illuminate their complex, contradictory mental states.
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U2 - 10.1037/per0000065
DO - 10.1037/per0000065
M3 - Article
C2 - 25314231
AN - SCOPUS:84928593870
SN - 1949-2715
VL - 5
SP - 428
EP - 433
JO - Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment
JF - Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment
IS - 4
ER -