Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Attachment studies with borderline patients: a review.

Hans R Agrawal1, John Gunderson, Bjarne M Holmes

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.

Harvard Review of Psychiatry
|June 19, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is strongly linked to insecure attachment styles. Specific insecure types like unresolved, preoccupied, and fearful attachments are common in BPD, highlighting disturbed relationships.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Family protective service involvement and reduced infant cortical grey matter volume.

Infant mental health journal·2026
Same author

Sensitive periods for the link between childhood maltreatment and brain aging during adulthood.

Neurobiology of stress·2025
Same author

Maternal Childhood Neglect is Linked to Greater Infant Cortisol Levels and Larger Infant Limbic Volumes.

Child maltreatment·2025
Same author

Is neglect the first form of threat?

Attachment & human development·2025
Same author

Maternal caregiving moderates relations between maternal childhood maltreatment and infant cortisol regulation.

Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines·2025
Same author

Early Parent-Child Relationship in the Shadow of War-Related Trauma: A Systematic Review.

Trauma, violence & abuse·2025

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Psychiatry
  • Attachment Theory

Background:

  • Disturbed attachments are theorized as central to borderline personality disorder (BPD) psychopathology.
  • Understanding attachment patterns in BPD is crucial for psychopathological theories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review empirical studies examining attachment types in individuals with BPD.
  • To identify characteristic insecure attachment patterns associated with BPD.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of 13 empirical studies.
  • Analysis of attachment measures and types employed across studies.

Main Results:

  • A strong association between BPD and insecure attachment was found in all reviewed studies.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Unresolved, preoccupied, and fearful attachment types were most characteristic of BPD subjects.
  • These attachment types involve a conflict between desiring intimacy and fearing dependency/rejection.

    • Conclusions:

    • Insecure attachment is prevalent and severe in adult BPD samples, supporting its central role in BPD theories.
    • Specific insecure attachment types may serve as phenotypic markers for BPD vulnerability.
    • Future research directions include exploring these markers further.