Prospective effects of caregiverchild interaction on developmental manifestations of personality pathology during adolescence.

Abstract

This study investigates the caregiver-child relationship as a proximal risk factor in the transactional development of youth personality pathology. 129 girls (aged 11-13 years), two-thirds of whom were oversampled for shy and fearful temperament, and their primary caregiver, participated in laboratory-based conflictual interactions. Trained observers rated positive and negative escalation, mutuality, relationship quality, and satisfaction. Concurrently and two years later, girls' maladaptive traits were assessed via self- and caregiver-reports based on the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) domains (negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism). Using a series of path models, we assessed whether dyadic interactions predicted changes in maladaptive traits. In dyads exhibiting reduced positive interaction patterns, specifically a lack of mutuality and relationship satisfaction, we observed increases in girls' negative affect, detachment, disinhibition, and psychoticism. These patterns were more pronounced in girls' self-reports. Negative escalation predicted girl- and caregiver-rated increases in antagonism. The study illustrates the importance of the caregiver-child relationship in the etiology of developmental personality pathology by establishing a link between observed caregiver-adolescent interactions and prospective changes in key domains of maladaptive traits. It expands the literature on dyadic interaction and developmental personality pathology to the dimensional framework of the AMPD.