{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:24:35Z","timestamp":1789691075583,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,27]],"date-time":"2025-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764201600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":26,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010269","name":"Wellcome Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Clin Psychology and Psychoth"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Insecure attachment is a well\u2010established risk factor for the emergence of borderline personality features (BPF), encompassing identity disturbance, affective instability, problematic interpersonal relationships and self\u2010harming behaviours. From a mentalizing\u2010based perspective, BPF may develop through the interplay of hypomentalizing, defined as a reduced capacity to understand and reflect on one's own and others' mental states, and epistemic mistrust (EM), the diminished capacity to trust communicated information. Both processes are shaped by attachment anxiety and avoidance. However, research investigating the mechanisms linking attachment to BPF remains limited. This study examined the parallel mediating roles of hypomentalizing and EM in the associations between attachment dimensions and BPF. Data were drawn from a large combined clinical and community sample of 1129 participants (291 men, 819 women, 17 transgender individuals and 2 categorized as \u2018other\u2019; mean age\u2009=\u200932.88\u2009years, SD\u2009=\u200910.90). Participants completed the Experiences in Close Relationships\u2014Revised (ECR\u2010R); the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire\u201354 (RFQ\u201054); the Epistemic Trust, Mistrust and Credulity Questionnaire (ETMCQ); and the Borderline Features Scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI\u2010BOR). Parallel multiple mediation analyses indicated that both hypomentalizing and EM significantly mediated the relationships between (a) attachment anxiety and BPF and (b) attachment avoidance and BPF. Supplementary analyses showed that these pathways did not differ across diagnostic groups, but EM was expressed most strongly in those participants who met criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD), where it differentiated the group from clinical (depression and anxiety disorders) and community comparisons. These findings support the theoretical basis for mentalization\u2010based interventions, highlighting the importance of improving mentalizing and reducing mistrust in communication to foster adaptive social learning. Nonetheless, the cross\u2010sectional design and reliance on self\u2010report measures limit causal inference and introduce potential bias. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to further evaluate the proposed model.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/cpp.70185","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,28]],"date-time":"2025-11-28T02:39:43Z","timestamp":1764297583000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Attachment and Borderline Personality Features: The Mediating Roles of Hypomentalizing and Epistemic Mistrust"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"32","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3688-2976","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ya\u011f\u0131zcan","family":"Kurt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology University College London  London UK"},{"name":"Anna Freud  London UK"},{"name":"Department of Psychology Istanbul Medeniyet University  Istanbul Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tobias","family":"Nolte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology University College London  London UK"},{"name":"Anna Freud  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1161-2817","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patrick","family":"Luyten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology University College London  London UK"},{"name":"Anna Freud  London UK"},{"name":"Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences University of Leuven  Leuven Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janet","family":"Feigenbaum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology University College London  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brooks","family":"King\u2010Casas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Department of Psychology Virginia Tech  Roanoke Virginia USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Judy","family":"Leibowitz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Camden and Islington Psychological Therapies Services Camden &amp; Islington NHS Foundation Trust  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Steve","family":"Pilling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology University College London  London UK"},{"name":"Camden and Islington Psychological Therapies Services Camden &amp; Islington NHS Foundation Trust  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"P.\u00a0Read","family":"Montague","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Department of Psychology Virginia Tech  Roanoke Virginia USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"London Personality and Mood Disorder Research Network","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Fonagy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology University College London  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2023.115131"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.books.9780890425596"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1521\/pedi_2017_31_283"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/per0000429"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","volume-title":"A Secure Base: Parent\u2010Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development","author":"Bowlby J.","year":"1988"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0250264"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jclp.20870"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapsychiatry.2016.4287"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_10_1","volume-title":"User's Guide for the SCID\u20105\u2010CV Structured Clinical Interview for DSM\u20105 Disorders: Clinical Version","author":"First M. 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