TY - JOUR
T1 - Emotional instability, poor emotional awareness, and the development of borderline personality
AU - Cole, Pamela M.
AU - Llera, Sandra J.
AU - Pemberton, Caroline K.
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - Emotional instability and poor emotional awareness are cardinal features of the emotional dysregulation associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Most models of the development of BPD include child negative emotional reactivity and grossly inadequate caregiving (e.g., abuse, emotional invalidation) as major contributing factors. However, early childhood emotional reactivity and exposure to adverse family situations are associated with a diverse range of long-term outcomes. We examine the known effects of these risk factors on early childhood emotional functioning and their potential links to the emergence of chronic emotional instability and poor emotional awareness. This examination leads us to advocate new research directions. First, we advocate for enriching the developmental assessment of children's emotional functioning to more closely capture clinically relevant aspects. Second, we advocate for conceptualizing children's early family experiences in terms of the proximal emotional environment to which young children may be or become sensitive. Such approaches should contribute to our ability to identify risk for BPD and guide preventive intervention.
AB - Emotional instability and poor emotional awareness are cardinal features of the emotional dysregulation associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Most models of the development of BPD include child negative emotional reactivity and grossly inadequate caregiving (e.g., abuse, emotional invalidation) as major contributing factors. However, early childhood emotional reactivity and exposure to adverse family situations are associated with a diverse range of long-term outcomes. We examine the known effects of these risk factors on early childhood emotional functioning and their potential links to the emergence of chronic emotional instability and poor emotional awareness. This examination leads us to advocate new research directions. First, we advocate for enriching the developmental assessment of children's emotional functioning to more closely capture clinically relevant aspects. Second, we advocate for conceptualizing children's early family experiences in terms of the proximal emotional environment to which young children may be or become sensitive. Such approaches should contribute to our ability to identify risk for BPD and guide preventive intervention.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=73949133151&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=73949133151&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0954579409990162
DO - 10.1017/S0954579409990162
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19825269
AN - SCOPUS:73949133151
SN - 0954-5794
VL - 21
SP - 1293
EP - 1310
JO - Development and Psychopathology
JF - Development and Psychopathology
IS - 4
ER -