The link between personality disorder and parenting behaviors: A systematic review

• We systematically reviewed the studies on personality disorder (PD) and parenting.
• PD was found to be related to inconsistent discipline.
• Parents with PD tend to be insensitive and intrusive in parent–child interactions.
• Parents with PD tend to show harsh, frightening/disoriented parental behavior.
• PD was found to be related to the status as an abusive parent.

ObjectiveTo systematically review the literature on the link between personality disorder and parenting capacity from an attachment theory perspective.MethodFour electronic databases were searched systematically. Those studies that met the pre-defined inclusion criteria were quality assessed. Data was then extracted and synthesized from the included studies using a qualitative approach.ResultsFifteen thousand and sixty one hits were found. A further 22 studies were identified through expert contact, and two from references lists. Two thousand eight hundred and eighty five duplicates were removed and a further 11,926 irrelevant studies were excluded. Of the remaining 250 articles, 229 did not meet the inclusion criteria and were therefore removed and two articles were unobtainable. A further 19 studies were removed following quality assessment, leaving a total of 11 studies to be reviewed. The majority of the findings supported the association between a diagnosis of personality disorder, poor parent–child interactions and problematic parenting practices.ConclusionsParental personality disorder was identified as a risk factor for impaired parenting behaviors and disturbed parent–infant. More rigorous research is required in relation to how co-morbidity and personality disorder alone influence the broad dimensions of parenting capacity for both mothers and fathers.