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Pathological Personality Traits Predict Early Parenting Behavior

Alexandra L Ballinger1, Alytia A Levendosky1, Amy K Nuttall2

  • 1From the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.

Journal of Personality Disorders
|June 2, 2026
PubMed

Personality pathology (PP) is a risk factor for poor parenting. However, little is known about how dimensions of PP differentially relate to parenting behaviors. To address this gap, we examined associations between dimensions of pathological personality traits in (N = 302) pregnant women, oversampled for intimate partner violence, and their observed parenting behavior at 6 months postpartum. First, we validated a six-factor structure of PP trait dimensions consisting of negative affectivity, detachment, disinhibition, antagonism, psychoticism, and anankastia. Second, we examined associations between these factors and intrusive and positive parenting. Antagonism predicted significantly lower positive parenting. Anankastia, characterized by perfectionism and rigidity, predicted more positive parenting and less intrusive parenting. These findings reveal that antagonistic traits, such as hostility and callousness, may account for the negative impact of PP on early parenting. Rigid perfectionism may promote positive parenting because it motivates women to prepare for motherhood and maintain routines even in high-stress environments.

Keywords:
intrusive parentingpathological personality traitspositive parenting

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