title: Borderline personality organization and dissociation.
abstract: The relationship between Kernberg's psychodynamic model of personality organization (PO) and dissociation has not yet been explored. Seventy-two nonclinical subjects and 222 psychiatric patients completed the Dissociative Experiences Scale and the Inventory of Personality Organization. Its Reality Testing subscale emerged as the most important predictor for all facets of dissociation. Discussing our results in the framework of Fonagy and coworkers' model of mentalization, we suggest that dissociation may reflect the preoedipal "pretend" mode of psychic functioning while impaired reality testing and psychotic experiences might be indicative of the "psychic equivalent" mode.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Greifswald/Stralsund, Germany. spitzer@uni-greifswald.de
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spitzer
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barnow
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Armbruster
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kusserow
authors.forename: Harald J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Freyberger
authors.forename: Hans Joergen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Grabe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires