Abstract

Previous studies (Fonagy and Target, 2001; Barone, 2003) showed evidence of a relation between attachment states of mind and metarepresentation impairments in individuals affected by Borderline Personality Disorder. Aim of the study was to evaluate the link among psychopathology (i.e. Borderline Personality Disorder) attachment patterns and metarepresentation abilities. 50 adult subjects (25 normative, 25 with Borderline Personality Disorder) were administered the Adult Attachment Interview in order to assess attachment mental states, and the Strange Stories Test (Happé, 1998) for assessing metarapresentative skills. Results indicated the presence of a significant interaction between attachment mental states patterns, metarepresentation skills (with respect to neutral contexts) and the diagnostic category of Personality Disorder. Finally, a discussion on developmental and methodological issues is provided.