PERSONALITY-DISORDERS OF AFFECTIVELY ILL MOTHERS - LINKS TO MATERNAL-BEHAVIOR

The objective of the present study was to assess relations between dep ression and personality disorders, and to examine how psychiatric prob lems are linked to maternal caretaking behavior, Subjects were affecti vely ill and well mothers and their children from 89 families particip ating in a longitudinal study of child development and childrearing, P sychiatric and behavioral measures were obtained at three time periods : when the child was a toddler, early school age, and preadolescent, A personality disorder assessment of the mother was made at the third t ime period, Affectively ill mothers reported more personality disorder symptoms than did well mothers, Severity of affective illness and rec ency of episodes were related to higher rates of personality disorder symptoms, The behavior of affectively ill mothers in interaction with their children was related to mothers' personality disorder symptoms. For example, unipolar mothers reporting higher rates of symptoms in th e paranoid, schizoid, or schizotypal disorder categories (categories t hat are particularly indicative of interpersonal impairments) were les s engaged and involved in interaction with their children, On the othe r hand, bipolar mothers' high level of engagement was related to highe r rates of symptoms in the dependent and borderline personality disord er categories. Results demonstrate the importance of considering multi ple sources of psychiatric impairment in assessing potential risks to the parent-child relationship.