Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Psychopathology. 2022;55(6):345-361. doi: 10.1159/000525006. Epub 2022 Jun 10.
Splitting, as a defense mechanism in Kernberg's theory, plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of polarized and oscillating representations of self/other characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Although the notion of splitting can be considered from a structural and a functional point of view, almost all empirical studies to date have focused on the former elements to the detriment of related cognitive processes.
To further investigate the cognitive processes related to splitting, 60 participants were administered the Splitting Index and indexes of resistance to proactive interference (PI) using the interpersonal recent negative task with words that reflect negative or positive interactions compared to neutral words.
The use of splitting was uniquely and significantly predicted by a higher capacity to resist PI and a lower capacity to consistently maintain this resistance when presented with negative words, above and beyond BPD traits, primitive defenses, and the presentation of neutral words. Results showed no evidence of a relationship between splitting and resistance to PI with positive words.
Results appear compatible with Kernberg's conceptualization of splitting as an active defense process that relates to an unstable capacity to inhibit negative representations of the object from entering working memory.
在 Kernberg 的理论中，分裂作为一种防御机制，在边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的自我/他人特征的极化和振荡表现的发展和维持中起着重要作用。尽管可以从结构和功能的角度来考虑分裂的概念，但迄今为止，几乎所有的实证研究都侧重于前者，而忽略了相关的认知过程。
为了进一步研究与分裂相关的认知过程，我们对 60 名参与者进行了分裂指数和抗主动干扰（PI）指数的评估，使用人际近期负性任务，该任务使用反映消极或积极互动的词与中性词相比。
使用分裂的情况可以通过更高的抵抗 PI 的能力和在呈现负性词时更差的持续抵抗这种能力来预测，这超越了 BPD 特征、原始防御和中性词的呈现。结果表明，分裂与对积极词的 PI 抵抗之间没有关系的证据。
结果似乎与 Kernberg 将分裂概念化为一种主动防御过程的概念一致，这种过程与抑制对象的负面表现进入工作记忆的不稳定能力有关。
