Models of the Core Features of Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

This chapter details three theories of the core features of BPD. Linehan has emphasized emotion dysregulation, while Gunderson has focused on problematic attachment. Zanarini has offered a complex model of borderline psychopathology that stresses the interaction between an innate hyperbolic temperament and a kindling event or series of events that results in a full-blown case of BPD. The empirical evidence for environmental factors relevant to the etiology of BPD is also reviewed. The results of studies of adverse childhood experiences are reviewed in detail. The role of separations and losses, disturbed parental involvement, and frank abuse and neglect are each reviewed in detail. The chapter then explores the etiology of the symptom areas of BPD, with both environmental factors and biological factors being considered.