Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior
Open Access

Research Article

Family Functioning and Parental Invalidation of Depressed Adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder Traits

¹Standard Life Centre for Breakthroughs in Teen Depression and Suicide Prevention and Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Canada

²McGill Group for Suicide Studies, McGill University, Canada

*Corresponding Author:

Mbekou Valentin
Outpatient Clinic of Depressive and Suicidal Disorders
6875 Lasalle Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec, H4H 1R3, Canada
Tel: 514-761-6131
Fax: 514-888-4466
E-mail: Valentin.mbekou@douglas.mcgill.ca

Received Date: June 16, 2015 Accepted Date: August 19, 2015 Published Date: August 26, 2015

Citation: Valentin M, Sasha M, Theodora M, Cecilia M, Chrysostome ZJ, et al. (2015) Family Functioning and Parental Invalidation of Depressed Adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder Traits. J Child Adolesc Behav 3:235. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000235

Copyright: © 2015 Valentin M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: Parental invalidation is thought to contribute to severity of borderline personality disorder (BPD) severity. Certain family functioning environments may foster more invalidation than others. The current study serves to examine how dysfunctional family functioning may allow for BPD symptoms development through the fostering of invalidating environments. Method: 60 female adolescents completed the Borderline Symptoms List (BSL-23), the Family Adaptability and Cohesiveness Evaluation Scale (FACES-V), and the Invalidated Childhood Environment Scale adapted for adolescents (ICES-A) at baseline of a 20-week dialectical-behavioural therapy. Results: Only maternal invalidation was positively correlated with severity of BPD symptoms. Furthermore, maternal invalidation mediated the relationship between disengaged family functioning and adolescent BPD symptoms. Limitations: The ICES-A is currently undergoing validation, therefore results should be interpreted cautiously. Also, the clinical sample used in the study presented with a restricted upper-bound range of symptoms, thus limiting generalizability. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need to work upon the family environment for the treatment of BPD symptoms, especially in adolescence before symptoms become consolidated.

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