Objectives: The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between parental attitudes, selfcontrol, identity integration, and traits of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a non-clinical sample of adults. Additionally, it will examine the role of self-control and identity integration as direct predictors of BPD, and as potential mediators of the association between parental attitudes and BPD traits.
Methods: The study involved a group of 162 adults drawn from the general population. The study participants were asked to complete the Questionnaire of Retrospective Assessment of Parental Attitudes (KPR-Roc) by Plopa, one subscale of the Lifestyle Questionnaire 05/SK by Trzebińska, subscale Identity Integration of the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory (MSEI) by O'Brien and Epstein in a Polish adaptation by Fecenec, and the Self-Control Scale (SCS) by Tangney et al. in the adaptation by Kwapis and Bartczuk.
Results: The results demonstrated a significant correlation of self-control and identity integration with parental attitudes (except from an excessively protective attitude presented by the mother and father), as well as negative correlations of both identity integration and self-control with BPD traits. Structural modeling analysis revealed that the mother's inconsequent attitude and identity integration have a direct impact on BPD traits, whereas the mother's excessively demanding attitude and self-control influence BPD traits only indirectly. An inconsequent father's attitude influences BPD traits in both direct and indirect ways. Self-control and identity integration are the mediators of the relationship between a mother's excessively demanding attitude and a father's inconsequent attitude with BPD traits. The impact of self - control on BPD traits is mediated by identity integration.
Conclusions: Parental attitudes of both the mother and father are associated with selfcontrol, identity integration and BPD traits. Self-control and identity integration mediate the influence of the selected parental attitudes on BPD traits.
Keywords: borderline personality disorder; identity integration; parental attitudes; self-control.