Assessing Object Relations and Social Cognition in Borderline Personality Disorders from Stories Told to the Picture Arrangement Subtest of the WAIS-R

This study used the stories subjects told to the Picture Arrangement subtest of the WAIS-R to assess five dimensions of object relations and social cognition in borderlines, major depressives, and normals. Borderline subjects were distinguished by more malevolent representations of relationships and a lower capacity to invest emotionally in relationships and moral standards. The pattern of findings in this study converges with the results of recent investigations using different forms of narrative data to suggest a number of cognitive and affective processes that may underlie the interpersonal pathology of patients with borderline personality disorder.