Borderline personality disorder and parenting capacity: Understanding child protection population characteristics

Objective: This paper describes an audit of borderline symptoms, risk factors for maltreatment and types of abuse among parents who completed a parenting capacity assessment at a South Australian health-based child protection service. 

Method: A retrospective case note audit within a 28-month period was conducted and included parents (n = 107) who had completed a Mclean’s screening instrument for borderline personality disorder and/or had a psychiatric review with a formal diagnosis. Parents who had a borderline personality disorder diagnosis or endorsed five or more symptoms were categorised into the ‘high’ borderline symptom group. Rates of parental risk factors for maltreatment and type of abuse were compared between parents with low or high borderline symptoms. 

Results: Forty percent of parents endorsed at least five borderline symptoms on the screening tool. On average, parents high in borderline symptoms had a greater number of parental risk factors. 

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of screening for personality pathology among parents presenting to child protection services. Foundational training for staff and making evidence-based interventions available should be considered in such settings.