Therefore, findings demonstrating the difficulty of mothers with BPD to respond sensitively to their infant’s needs are not surprising (e.g. Mothers with BPD often have difficulties in accurately perceiving and reacting to their own emotional needs. Compared to clinical and non-clinical control groups, the level of parental depression is elevated in samples of mothers with BPD they engage more often in alcohol and drug abuse and show suicidal behavior. The existing literature points to the numerous difficulties mothers with BPD face (for an overview see ). The program is designed to enhance the mothers’ parenting skills by teaching them about the primary needs of the child, coping with stress, emotion regulation, and self-care. Taking into account that stability and dependability of the caregiver are crucial for a healthy child development, women with BPD are extremely challenged when expecting and raising a child.Ī newly developed group training program for mothers with BPD is described. This “stable instability” of interpersonal and emotional problems affects all daily interactions, including the parents’ relationship with their infant(s).
At the same time, individuals with BPD have difficulties engaging in and especially maintaining stable relationships. In stressful situations, the women tend to react with impulsive or self-harming behavior, easily lose their temper, or engage in excessively self-damaging behavior (e.g., drinking, drug use). The daily life of women with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by recurring and frequent changes in mood, self-image, and identity. In the first years of parenting, parents struggle with major adjustments in their lives: they suffer from sleep deprivation, are faced with a change of life focus, must organize the daily routine according to the children’s needs and so forth. Raising children is a great pleasure and at the same time a big challenge. Initial release 80 August 2016, last release 13 October 2016 ‘retrospectively registered’ NCT02935218, Unique Protocol ID: RenRos01 The results on the acceptance of the training program are promising. Trainers evaluated the program as helpful and reported visible changes in participants’ behavior and attitudes towards parenting. Especially role plays were rated as useful.
Participants’ acceptance of the program was very good. Participants’ self-reported stress related to parenting, as well as psychological distress and depressive symptoms, was high. After the training, participants and trainers were asked to provide feedback regarding the evaluation of and the changes due to the training. To estimate the participants’ impairment, parental stress and psychological distress were assessed before the training. N = 15 mothers with BPD who had young children (aged 0–6 years) participated in a 12-week training program.
The program is based on cognitive-behavioral principles and skills derived from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). A group training program was developed for mothers with BPD to enhance their parenting skills and help them raise their children. Women with BPD are, therefore, particularly challenged when raising a child.
Dysfunctional relationships and emotion dysregulation are hallmark features of borderline personality disorder (BPD).