title: Primitive defenses, object relations, and symptom clusters in borderline psychopathology.
abstract: In this study, I examined associations between selected defense mechanisms and characteristic object relations in borderline personality disorder and the role of these variables in predicting symptomatic expression. A canonical correlation analysis was performed on self-report questionnaire data collected on 53 borderline patients. Two significant correlations of moderate magnitude were obtained; the first set of canonical variables offered evidence supportive of Kernberg's notions of a reciprocal relation between splitting mechanisms and pathognomonic object ties in borderline pathology, and the second set supported the view of a differentiation between borderline and narcissistic defenses. Regression analyses suggested that unique combinations of defense and object relations underlie specific symptomatic expression.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center West Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Greene
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment