Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
This study investigates the caregiver-child relationship as a proximal risk factor in the transactional development of youth personality pathology. Laboratory-based conflictual interactions between 129 girls (aged 11-13) and their caregivers were rated for 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, psychoticism). Using a series of path models, we assessed whether dyadic interactions predicted changes in self- and caregiver reported maladaptive traits. In dyads with reduced positive interaction patterns, particularly a lack of mutuality and relationship satisfaction, girls were characterized by elevated levels of negative affect, detachment, disinhibition, and psychoticism. These patterns were notably more consistent for girls’ self-reports. Patterns of negative escalation predicted self- and caregiver reported antagonism, but they were not linked to other maladaptive trait domains. The study illustrates the importance of the caregiver-child relationship in the etiology of developmental personality pathology by establishing a link between observed caregiver-child 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.
Krakau et al. (Wed,) studied this question.