Object Constancy in Adolescents With Borderline Personality Disorder Pathology

Persistent, interpersonal difficulties are a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Theories propose that these may result from an insufficient object constancy, for example, the insufficient capacity to maintain feelings of closeness (FC) toward a person when he or she is absent. Based on this assumption, this study examined whether FC toward the mother or the best friend were more dependent on previous contact in adolescents with BPD pathology compared with healthy controls. In addition, the influence of different contact modes was explored. N = 52 female adolescents aged 14 to 18 years (n = 24 with >= 5 BPD symptoms [full-threshold BPD], n = 10 with 1-4 BPD symptoms [subthreshold BPD], n = 18 healthy controls) completed up to 12 e-diaries a day on 2 consecutive weekends. Using multilevel mixed-effect regression analyses, we found that the more BPD symptoms a patient fulfilled, the more dependent were FC toward the best friend on actual contact. In contrast, BPD pathology did not influence the dependency of the FC toward the mother on actual contact. Finally, the mode of contact seems to matter: The more BPD symptoms a patient met, the more was the FC toward the best friend dependent on personal compared with written or no contact, whereas phone or written contact was no different from no contact. The present findings partially support the theory of an insufficient object constancy in BPD that seems to become apparent in adolescence mainly in relationships with peers. Replication of the findings, particularly with regard to the impact of mode of contact, in larger samples is required.