Development of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Introduction to the Special Section

Recognizable symptoms and features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) appear during adolescence. However, there has been resistance to diagnose or research this disorder prior to adulthood because of clinical lore that BPD is a long-standing illness and that personality traits are not stable until adulthood. This has resulted in little information regarding the development of and risk factors for BPD in youth. The goal of this special section is to examine the development of BPD in adolescence and young adulthood using a broad collection of approaches, including a theoretical review paper, two prospective studies, and a multi-method cross-sectional study. This body of work provides new insights into vulnerabilities that may transact with early attachment relationships and experiences to predict the emergence of BPD in adolescence and young adulthood. These papers also point to future research that is needed to better understand the etiology, development, and course of BPD.     

Trajectories of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescent Girls: A Comparison of Parallel Trajectory Approaches

Longitudinal mixture models have become popular in the literature. However, modest attention has been paid to whether these models provide a better fit to the data than growth models. Here, we compared longitudinal mixture models to growth models in the context of changes in depression and anxiety symptoms in a community sample of girls from age 10 to 17. Model comparisons found that the preferred solution was a 5-class parallel process growth mixture model that differed in the course of depression and anxiety symptoms reflecting both ordering of symptoms and qualitative group differences. Comparisons between classes revealed substantive differences on a number of outcomes using this solution. Findings are discussed in the context of clinical assessment and implementation of growth mixture models.     

Theological Education in a New Missional Era: A Personal Journey with Seven Theses

The author's personal journey in discovering, developing, researching and practicing adult theological education in the church is rehearsed, pointing out key learning moments along the way. Out of this praxis seven theses are offered that set an agenda for theological education in the new missional era in which the church finds itself.     

Attachment and Mother-Child Communication in Adjustment to the Death of a Father Among Cambodian Adolescents

This study examined quality of attachment to the mother and child-mother communication in adolescents' adjustment to the death of a father. Forty-eight Cambodian adolescents whose father had died within the previous 3 years completed a set of measures that included attachment, communication, grief, and self-esteem. Results showed that quality of attachment to the mother and whether the adolescent communicated with the mother about the father and found this to be helpful were positively related to adaptive grief and self-esteem. Moreover, support was shown for an indirect effect of quality of attachment to the mother on adaptive grief as mediated by communication. Implications of the findings for quality of attachment in adjustment to bereavement in a non-Western cultural context are discussed.     

Associations between Race and Eating Disorder Symptom Trajectories in Black and White Girls

Epidemiological research suggests racial differences in the presentation of eating disorder symptoms. However, no studies have examined associations between race and eating disorder symptom trajectories across youth and adolescence, which is necessary to inform culturally sensitive prevention programs. The purpose of the current study was to examine the trajectories of eating disorder symptoms from childhood to young adulthood and to examine whether race was associated with trajectory group membership. Data were drawn from 2,305 Black and White girls who participated in a community-based longitudinal cohort study (Pittsburgh Girls Study) examining the development of psychopathology. The child and adult versions of the Eating Attitudes Test assessed self-reported eating disorder symptoms at six time points between ages 9 and 21 years. Growth mixture modeling was used to examine developmental trajectories of dieting, bulimia/food preoccupation, and total eating disorder symptom scores. Given potential confounds with race and disordered eating, financial strain (i.e., receiving public assistance) and weight were included as covariates. Four to six distinct developmental patterns were found across eating disorder symptoms, including none, increasing, decreasing, or increasing-decreasing trajectories. Black girls had a greater likelihood of being in the decreasing trajectories for dieting, bulimia/food preoccupation, and total eating disorder symptom scores. White girls were more likely to follow increasing trajectories of dieting and total eating disorder symptom scores compared to Black girls. These results highlight the importance of examining the influence of racial background on eating disorder symptoms and the potential need for differences in the timing and focus of prevention interventions in these groups.     

Impact of current grief on memory for past grief in spousal bereavement

This study examined the impact of changes in level of current grief over time on changes in memory for past grief. Following from previous work on the impact of current affective state on memory for past affectively salient events, bereaved individuals who underwent a greater reduction in grief over time were expected to show a similar pattern of changes in memory for past grief. A sample of conjugally bereaved participants completed measures of current grief and memory for past grief at the time of the loss of their spouse at each of the 2, 6, 13, and 30 month post-loss time periods. As predicted, those who reported greater reduction in grief over the course of the study were more likely to remember their past grief as progressively less severe relative to those who underwent less reduction in grief over time. A nonrecursive causal model analysis verified that changes in memory for past grief were explained by changes in current grief. These results were discussed in terms of contemporary reconstructive memory accounts of the effect of affective state on memory.     

Impact of current grief on memory for past grief in spousal bereavement

This study examined the impact of changes in level of current grief over time on changes in memory for past grief. Following from previous work on the impact of current affective state on memory for past affectively salient events, bereaved individuals who underwent a greater reduction in grief over time were expected to show a similar pattern of changes in memory for past grief. A sample of conjugally bereaved participants completed measures of current grief and memory for past grief at the time of the loss of their spouse at each of the 2, 6, 13, and 30 month post-loss time periods. As predicted, those who reported greater reduction in grief over the course of the study were more likely to remember their past grief as progressively less severe relative to those who underwent less reduction in grief over time. A nonrecursive causal model analysis verified that changes in memory for past grief were explained by changes in current grief. These results were discussed in terms of contemporary reconstructive memory accounts of the effect of affective state on memory.