Structural model of borderline personality syndromes, experience of childhood trauma and attachment style with the mediating role of mentalization in psychiatry clinic referrals of Imam Hossein Shahrkaraj hospital

The role of childhood trauma in the development of borderline personality disorder has long been studied. The most accurate theoretical models are multifactorial and consider a range of factors including childhood trauma, attachment styles and mentalization ability to explain the developmental pathways of borderline personality disorder.

The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the fit of the structural model of borderline personality syndromes of childhood trauma experience and attachment style with the mediating role of mentalization.

This research was descriptive research of the correlation type that was conducted in the statistical population of people by identifying borderline personalities who referred to the psychiatric clinic of Imam Hossein Hospital in Karaj in 1401. 319 people were selected by available sampling method. The data collection tool was borderline personality questionnaire (Lishnernig, 1999), attachment style questionnaire (Collins, & Reid, 1990), childhood trauma experience questionnaire (Bernstein and et al., 2003) and mentalization questionnaire (Dimitrijević and et al., 2018).

Analyzes with Pearson's correlation method and structural equation modeling showed that experience of childhood trauma (β= 0.79; P< 0.01), fear attachment styles (β= 0.61; P< 0.01) and anxiety (β= 0.68; P< 0.01) had a positive and significant effect on borderline personality symptoms, and the attachment style of faith (β= 0.62; P< 0.01) and mentalization (β= 0.77; P< 0.01) 01) have a negative and significant effect on borderline personality disorder.

These results can be helpful for clinical specialists in the field of borderline personality disorder treatment and plan efficient treatments considering the role of predictive factors in these patients.