Alterations of empathy in mothers with a history of early life maltreatment, depression, and borderline personality disorder and their effects on child psychopathology

Dittrich, Katja; Bermpohl, Felix; Kluczniok, Dorothea; Hindi Attar, Catherine; Jaite, Charlotte; Fuchs, Anna; Neukel, Corinne; Herpertz, Sabine C.; Brunner, Romuald; Winter, Sibylle Maria; Lehmkuhl, Ulrike; Roepke, Stefan; Kaess, Michael; Heim, Christine; Boedeker, Katja (2020). Alterations of empathy in mothers with a history of early life maltreatment, depression, and borderline personality disorder and their effects on child psychopathology. Psychological medicine, 50(7), pp. 1182-1190. Cambridge University Press 10.1017/S0033291719001107

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BACKGROUND:

Early life maltreatment (ELM), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and major depressive disorder (MDD) have been associated with empathy deficits in different domains. Lack of maternal empathy has also been related to child behavioral problems. As ELM, BPD, and MDD often co-occur, we aimed to identify dissociable effects on empathy due to these three factors. In addition, we aimed to investigate their indirect effects via empathy on child psychopathology.
METHODS:

We included 251 mothers with and without MDD (in remission), BPD and ELM and their children, aged 5-12. We used the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as a measure of empathy on four different dimensions (personal distress, empathic concern, perspective taking, and fantasy) and the Child Behavior Checklist as a measure of child psychopathology.
RESULTS:

Having included all three factors (ELM, MDD, BPD) in one analysis, we found elevated personal distress in MDD and BPD, and lower levels of perspective-taking in BPD, but no effects from ELM on any empathy subscales. Furthermore, we found indirect effects from maternal BPD and MDD on child psychopathology, via maternal personal distress.
CONCLUSION:

The present study demonstrated the dissociable effects of maternal ELM, MDD, and BPD on empathy. Elevated personal distress in mothers with BPD and MDD may lead to higher levels of child psychopathology.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
04 Faculty of Medicine > University Psychiatric Services > University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy > Research Division

UniBE Contributor:

Kaess, Michael

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0033-2917

Publisher:

Cambridge University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Chantal Michel

Date Deposited:

19 Dec 2019 10:31

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:33

Publisher DOI:

10.1017/S0033291719001107

PubMed ID:

31115280

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/136229

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/136229

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