The effects of maternal borderline personality disorder on toddler theory of mind development

项目总结/摘要 心理理论（ToM）是感知和理解他人心理状态的能力， RDoC对他人的感知和理解结构的操作化。ToM是一种早期出现的 边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的发展机制; BPD患者倾向于 将精神状态错误地归因于他人，从而引发愤怒失调、人际关系障碍和 自杀行为与2020年NIMH战略计划保持一致，以确定预防BPD的可延展目标， 有必要研究这一关键机制在疟疾发病之前的演变。当前 一项提案旨在对患有BPD的母亲和36-48岁的后代进行高风险母子样本的研究 几个月大，是ToM发展的关键时期。此外，这项研究将阐明具体的行为， 患有BPD的母亲在学龄前时期以及儿童时期参与影响ToM发展的活动， 参与这个过程的行为。心理理论在学龄前阶段发展迅速， 易受环境影响，特别是与照顾者的互动。该提案详细说明了 一个全面的培训计划，使我能够解决这些问题，同时建立在以前的基础上 重要的经验。首先，扩展我在研究ToM和相关流程方面的经验， 在青春期，我将重点关注这个结构在学龄前的发展轨迹。二我 将接受测量和解释心率和RSA的培训，作为 学龄前儿童与母亲的社会交往第三，基于我对全球行为编码的了解， 母亲与青少年的互动，我将掌握使用微观分析编码，以获得连续的时间序列 母亲和孩子在互动中的行为。此外，我将学习新颖的分析方法， 基于动态系统建模的数据。本研究的具体目的是：（1）确定两种形式是否 不适应的母亲行为--敌意和不准确的精神状态归因--更经常被观察到 与那些没有精神疾病的母亲相比，患有BPD的母亲; 2）评估学龄前儿童的社会 与母亲的接触（即，接近和撤退行为以及心率和RSA）受到影响 3）测试母亲行为对心理理论发展轨迹的影响 在学龄前儿童一年的发展过程中。这一建议的核心假设是， BPD与针对子女的适应不良行为有关。这些行为导致了一种模式 学龄前儿童的社会参与功能失调（减少接近和增加退缩行为 以及心率减速和RSA戒断），这进一步抑制了他们的ToM 在这个关键阶段的发展。通过识别与心理理论相关的风险因素， 有针对性的具体干预措施，重点是提高母婴互动的质量，这可能会 预防后代BPD发作的效果。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to perceive and understand mental states in others a nd represents one operationalization of the RDoC construct of Perception and Understanding of Others. ToM is an early emerging mechanism in the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD); individuals with BPD tend to misattribute mental states to others, spurring a cycle of anger dysregulation, interpersonal dysfunction, and suicidal behavior. Aligned with the 2020 NIMH strategic plan, to identify malleable targets for prevention of BPD, it is necessary to study the unfolding of this critical mechanism prior to the onset of symptomatology. The current proposal aims to do so in a high-risk mother-child sample in which mothers have BPD and offspring are 36-48 months old, a critical time for ToM development. Further, this study will elucidate the specific behaviors that mothers with BPD engage in that influence the development of ToM during the preschool period as well as child behaviors involved in this process. ToM undergoes rapid development during the preschool age and is highly susceptible to environmental influence, particularly interactions with caregivers. This proposal details a comprehensive training plan that will enable me to address these questions while building on previous experiences in important ways. First, expanding on my experience studying ToM and related processes in adolescence, I will focus on the developmental trajectory of this construct during the preschool age. Second, I will obtain training in measurement and interpretation of heart rate and RSA as physiological markers of preschooler social engagement with mothers. Third, building on my knowledge of global behavioral coding of mother-adolescent interactions, I will master the use of micro-analytic coding to obtain continuous time-series data of mother and child behavior within interactions. Further, I will learn novel analytic methods for this unique data based on dynamic systems modeling. The specific aims of this study are to 1) Determine whether two forms of maladaptive maternal behaviors--hostility and inaccurate mental state attribution--are observed more often among mothers with BPD compared to those with no psychiatric disorder; 2) Evaluate how preschooler social engagement with mothers (i.e., approach and withdrawal behaviors as well as heart rate and RSA) is influenced by these maternal behaviors; and 3) Test the effect of identified maternal behaviors on the trajectory of ToM development over the course of one year in preschoolers. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that maternal BPD is associated with maladaptive behaviors directed toward their children. These behaviors lead to a pattern of dysfunctional social engagement by preschoolers (decreased approach and increased withdrawal behavior toward mother during as well as heart rate deceleration and RSA withdrawal), which further inhibits their ToM development during this critical phase. By identifying risk factors associated with ToM, families at risk can be targeted for specific interventions focused on improving the quality of mother-child interactions, which may have the effect of preventing BPD onset in offspring.