Specific parenting mechanisms contributing to feelings of emotional invalidation in children and adolescents have not been adequately explored in the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD). The work in this area has been limited by cross-sectional studies using retrospective reports of adult samples and a limited range of parenting measures, which may be subject to bias. This study extends previous work by exploring associations between maternal invalidation and adolescent symptoms of BPD, with a short-term longitudinal design involving three assessments across one year, at baseline (Time 1), 6 months (Time 2), and 12 months (Time 3). Observational data were collected on 74 mother-adolescent dyads during a structured conflict discussion task at Time 2. It was hypothesized that invalidating maternal responses during the structured conflict discussion, at Time 2, would be associated with BPD symptoms at Time 3, even after controlling for BPD symptoms at Time 1. Results indicated that critical maternal behaviors during the structured conflict discussion task were predictive of BPD symptoms 6 months later, even after controlling for initial BPD symptoms, indicating that invalidating parenting may play a role in the maintenance and development of BPD among at-risk adolescents. Lower positive dyadic behavior also predicted BPD symptoms 6 months later at trend levels, suggesting that the mother-adolescent relationship may also contribute to the development of BPD. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed
