Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T06:18:03.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An object relations perspective on borderline personality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

F. E. Yeomans  and
K. N. Levy
F. E. Yeomans*
Affiliation:
The Weill Medical College of Cornell University
K. N. Levy
Affiliation:
City University of New York, USA
*
135 Central Park West #1-N, New York, NY 10023, USA. Tel: 212 877 2232; Fax: 212 475 2142; E-mail: FYeoman@nyc.rr.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

One of the principal formulations of borderline personality disorder is based on object relations theory, a component of psychoanalytic theory. To remain relevant, psychoanalytic formulations must find support from empirical research. After summarizing the object relations understanding of borderline personality, the authors review studies in biological neuroscience, developmental psychology and cognitive science related to the fundamental concepts of object relations theory as it aplies to borderline pathology. This review suggests that these empirical studies support psychoanalytic formulations originally derived from clinical practice and observation.

Keywords

borderlline personality disorderobject reaktions theorycognitive psychologyattachment theoryaggresions
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 2002 , pp. 76 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Acta Neuropsychiatrica 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Klein, M. Envy and gratitude and other works. London: Hogarty Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1975. Google Scholar
Jacobson, E. The self and the object world. New York: International Universities Press, 1964. Google Scholar
Kernberg, OF. Internal world and external reality. New York: Jason Aronson, 1980. Google Scholar
Kernberg, OF. Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson, 1975. Google Scholar
Nelson, K, Grundel, J. Generalized event representations. Basic building blocks of cognitive development. In: Lamb, M, Brown, AL, eds. Advances in developmental psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1987: 131–158. Google Scholar
Stroufe, LA. Infant–caregiver attachment and patterns of attachment in pre-school: the roots of maladaptive competence. In: Perlmutter, M, ed. Minnesota symposium on child psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1983: 41–83. Google Scholar
Ainsworth, MDS, Blehar, MC, Waters, E, Walls, S. Pattern of attachment. A psychological study of the strength situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1978. Google Scholar
Main, M, Cassidy, J. Adult attachment classification system. In: Main, M, ed. Behavior and the development of representational models of attachment: Five methods of assessment. Cambridge University Press, 1995. Google Scholar
Oquendo, MA, Mann, JJ. The biology of impulsivity and suicidality. In: Paris, J, ed. The psychiatric clinics of North America: borderline personality disorder. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2000: 11–25. Google Scholar
Brown, GL, Ebert, MH, Goyer, PFet al. Aggression suicide and serotonin: relationships to CSF amine metabolities. Am J Psychiatry 1982;139: 741–746.Google Scholar
Depue, RA, Spoont, MR. Conceptualizing a serotonin trait. A behavioral dimension of constraint. Ann NY Acad Sci 1986;487: 47–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurvits, IG, Koenigsberg, H, Siever, LJ. Neurotransmitter dysfunction in patients with borderline personality disorder. In: Paris, J, ed. The psychiatric clinics of North America: borderline personality disorder. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2000: 27–40. Google ScholarPubMed
Gurvits, IG, Koenigsberg, H, Siever, LJ. Neurotransmitter dysfunction in patients with borderline personality disorder. In: Paris, J, ed. The psychiatric clinics of North America: borderline personality disorder. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2000: 28. Google Scholar
Silk, KR. Overview of biological factors. In: Paris, J, ed. The psychiatric clinics of North America: borderline personality disorder. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2000: 61–75. Google ScholarPubMed
Dodge, KA, Tomlin, AM. Utilization of self-schemas as a mechanism of interpersonal bias in aggressive children. Soc Cogn 1987;5: 280–300. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, KA, Frame, CL. Social cognitive biases and deficits in aggressive boys. Child Dev 1982;53: 620–635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, KA, Pettit, GS, Bates, JE, Valente, E. Social information-processing patterns partially mediate the effect of early physical abuse on later conduct problems. J Abnorm Psychol 1995;104: 632–643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeamans, FE, Clarkin, JF. New developments in the investigation of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Current opinion in psychiatry 2001;14: 591–595.DOI: 10.1097/00001504-200111000-00018CrossRefGoogle Scholar