Christopher D. Robertson

Maternal and contextual influences and the effect of temperament development during infancy on parenting in toddlerhood.

In the current study, latent growth modeling (LGM) was used to: (1) identify the developmental trajectories of infant negative emotions (NE) and regulatory capacity (RC) from 4 to 12 months of age, (2) examine maternal and family factors that may affect NE and RC trajectories, (3) examine transactional associations between developing NE and RC, and (4) examine the effect of infant temperament trajectories on negative parenting when toddlers reached 18 months of age. Mothers from 156 families completed a measure of infant temperament when infants were 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months of age and completed maternal relationship stress, depression, and family demographics measures when infants were 4 months of age. Information regarding negative parenting was collected when toddlers reached 18 months of age. LGM results suggest that maternal relationship stress and depression influence infant NE development, that high NE early in infancy may compromise the development of infant regulation, and that steeper decreases of infant RC contribute the greatest amount of variance to negative parenting in toddlerhood. The implications for models of early emotion regulation and incorporating changes in temperament over time into developmentally sensitive models (e.g., emerging parenting practices and developmental psychopathology) are discussed.

A latent growth examination of fear development in infancy: contributions of maternal depression and the risk for toddler anxiety.

Growth modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectory of infant temperamental fear with maternal fear and depressive symptoms as predictors of infant fearfulness and change in infant fear predicting toddler anxiety symptoms. In Study 1, a sample of 158 mothers reported their own depressive symptoms and fear when their children were 4 months of age and infant fearfulness at 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 months. Maternal symptoms of depression predicted steeper increases in infant fearfulness over time (z = 2.06, p < .05), with high initial infant fear and steeper increases in fear (intercept, z = 2.32, p < .05, and slope, z = 1.88, p < .05) predicting more severe toddler anxiety symptoms. In Study 2, an independent sample of 134 mothers completed measures of maternal depression and fear when the infants were 4 months old, and standardized laboratory observations of infant fear were made at 8, 10, and 12 months. Consistent with Study 1, maternal depression accounted for change in fearfulness (z = 2.30, p < .05), with more frequent and more severe maternal symptoms leading to greater increases in infant fear and increases in fearfulness z = 2.08, p < .05) leading to more problematic toddler anxiety. The implications and contributions of these findings are discussed in terms of methodology, fear development, and developmental psychopathology.

The Invalidating Childhood Environment Scale (ICES): Psychometric Properties and Relationship to Borderline Personality Symptomatology

The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Invalidating Childhood Environment Scale (ICES; Mountford, Corstorphine, Tomlinson, & Waller, 2004), a measure designed to retrospectively assess exposure to parental invalidation. The ICES was administered to a sample of female college students along with measures of parental bonding and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptomatology. In contrast with previous findings, the ICES demonstrated excellent internal consistency within a nonclinical sample. It also correlated in the predicted directions with measures of parental bonding and BPD symptomatology. Taken together, these findings suggest that the ICES is a promising retrospective measure of parental invalidation. They also provide some support for the hypothesized link between parental invalidation and BPD symptomatology and suggest that additional research with clinical samples is needed.

BIS and BAS Interact with Perceived Parental Affectionless Control to Predict Personality Disorder Symptomatology

The objective of this study was to examine if and how two basic dimensions of temperament-behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity-might interact with exposure to perceived parental affectionless control (AFC) to predict personality disorder (PD) symptomatology. Measures of BIS, BAS, AFC, and PD symptomatology were administered to a large nonclinical sample (n = 318). As predicted, exposure to AFC was positively associated with PD symptoms in general, BIS was positively associated with Cluster A and C symptoms, and BAS was positively associated with Cluster B symptoms. BIS and BAS were also found to interact with each other to predict Cluster B symptomatology. In addition, BIS, BAS, and maternal AFC interacted to predict Cluster A symptomatology. In the latter case, it was found that individuals who reported high BIS, high BAS, and high maternal AFC reported the highest overall level of Cluster A symptoms.

The interaction of borderline personality disorder symptoms and relationship satisfaction in predicting affect.

Previous research has suggested that stable, marital relationships may have overall prognostic significance for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD); however, research focused on the impact of nonmarital, and perhaps short-term, romantic relationships is lacking. Thus, the primary goal of this study was to examine the impact of the interaction of BPD symptoms and relationship satisfaction on state negative affect in college undergraduates. It was predicted that individuals who scored higher on measures of BPD symptoms and who were in a satisfying romantic relationship would report less negative affect than comparable individuals in a less satisfying romantic relationship. Questionnaires assessing BPD symptoms, relationship satisfaction, and negative affect were administered to 111 women, the majority of whom then completed daily measures of relationship satisfaction and negative affect over a 2-week follow-up period. Hierarchical multiple regression and hierarchical linear modeling were used to test the hypotheses. The interaction of BPD symptoms with relationship satisfaction was found to significantly predict anger, as measured at one time point, suggesting that satisfying romantic relationships may be a protective factor for individuals scoring high on measures of BPD symptoms with regard to anger.

Variety of Self-Injury: Is the Number of Different Methods of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Related to Personality, Psychopathology, or Functions of Self-Injury?

This study explored the association between number of methods of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) and personality, psychopathology, and functions of NSSI. Two combined undergraduate samples reporting a history of NSSI (n = 149) completed measures of personality, psychopathology, and NSSI. A series of regression analyses indicated that Conscientiousness, Openness, and two functions of NSSI (i.e., Automatic Negative Reinforcement and Social Negative Reinforcement) shared significant relationships with the number of NSSI methods participants engaged in. These findings demonstrate that, after accounting for NSSI frequency, a relationship exists among specific personality factors, NSSI functions, and engagement in additional methods of NSSI.

Factors of Impulsivity and Cluster B Personality Dimensions

The goal of the present investigation was to expand the literature on impulsivity and Cluster B personality disorders (PDs) by conceptualizing impulsivity in a multidimensional manner. Two separate undergraduate samples (n = 223; n = 204) completed measures of impulsivity and Cluster B dimensions. Impulsivity was indeed predictive of Cluster B dimensions and, importantly, each PD scale exhibited a unique impulsivity profile. Findings for borderline PD scores were highly consistent across samples and strongly and positively associated with urgency and lack of perseverance, as expected. Findings for the other PD dimensions also exhibited a fair amount of consistency. Implications of these findings for diagnostic classification and treatment are discussed.