Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between childhood disturbances indentified as borderline and deficits in the child's neurocognitive apparatus. The common indications of failures in primary autonomous ego apparatus in the borderline conditions are discussed and compared to the problems of the “learning disabled” child. Professional opinions and research of both conditions are reviewed. Developmental and dynamic considerations are presented to suggest a direct association between the presence of learning disabilities and psychiatric disorders in children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrulonis et al. Organic brain dysfunction and the borderline syndrome.Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 1980,4(1), 47–66.
Ayres, J.Sensory integration and learning disorders. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services, 1977.
Bender, L. Schizophrenia in childhood — recognition, description, and treatment.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1956,26.
Bergman, P. & Escalona, S. Unusual sensitivity in very young children.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1949,3/4.
Brody, S. The concept of attachment and bonding.Journal of the American Psychological Association, 1981,26.
Bush, & Waugh.Diagnosing learning disabilities. Columbus, Ohio: Charles Merrill, 1976.
Cantwell, M. & Baker. Psychiatric disorders in children with speech and language retardation.Archives of General Psychiatry, 1977,34.
Chethic, M. The borderline child. In J.D. Noshpitz (ED.),Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry. New York: Basic Books, 1980, pp. 304–320.
Cohen et al. Primary childhood aphasia and childhood autism: Clinical biological and conceptual observations.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry 1976,15, 604–645.
DMS-III, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 3rd ed. Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 1980.
Duane, D.D. Development dyslexia: Etiologic theories and therapeutic implications.Psychiatric Annals, 1977,7, 37–47.
Escalona, S. Patterns of infantile experience and the developmental process.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1963,18, 243.
Freedman, D.A. The effect of sensory and other deficits in children on their experience of people.Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1981,29.
Frijling-Schreuder, E.C. Borderline states in children.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1969,24.
Kahn, M.R. The concept of cumulative trauma.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1969,18.
Kernberg, O. Borderline personality organization.Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1967,15.
Kety, S.S. The biological bases of mental illness. In Bernstein (Ed.),Clinical Psychopharmacology. Littleton, MA: Psg Publishing Co., 1978, pp. 1–13.
Kohut, H.,The Analysis of the Self. New York: International Universities Press 1977.
Kohut, H.The restoration of the self. New York: International Universities Press, 1977.
Lerner, J.W.Children with learning disabilities, 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1971.
Mahler, M.S.On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of individuation. New York: International Universities Press, 1968.
Murray, M.E. Minimal brain dysfunction and borderline personality adjustment.American Journal of Psychotherapy, 1979,33.
Ornitz, E.M. and Ritvo, E. The syndrome of autism: A critical review.American Journal of Psychiatry, 1976,133.
Palombo, J. Perceptual deficits and self-esteem in adolescence.Clinical Social Work Journal, 1979,7.
Palombo, J. A critical review of the concept of the borderline child.Clinical Social Work Journal, 1982,10.
Pine, F. The concept of “borderline” in children: A clinical essay.Psychoanalytic Study of Child, 1974,29.
Ribble, M.The rights of infants. New York: Columbia University Press, 1943.
Rie, E.E. and Yeh, J.W., “Block Design and Neuro-Cognitive Impairment in Children.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 198215, 28–32.
Rimland, B.Infantile autism New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1964.
Rosenfeld, S. & Sprince, M. An attempt to formulate the meaning of the concept “borderline”.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1963,18, 603.
Shapiro et al.Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. New York: Raven Press, 1978.
Silver, L.B. A proposed view of the etiology of the neurological learning disabilities syndrome.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 1971,4.
Silver, L.B. “Children with Perceptual and Other Learning Problems,” In J.D. Noshpitz (Ed)Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry. New York, Basic Books, 1980. pp. 605–614.
Spitz, R.A. The psychogenic disease in infancy: An attempt at their etiology classification.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1951,6, 225.
Spitz, R.A. Hospitalism: An inquiry into the genesis of psychiatric conditions in early childhood.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1945,1, 53–74.
Spitz, R.A. Hospitalism: A follow-up report.Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 19462, 113–117
Thomas, A. & Chess, S.Temperament and development. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1977.
Weil, A.P. Maturational variations and genetic-dynamic issues.Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1978,26, 461–492.
Weil, A.P. Children with minimal brain dysfunction: Diagnostic and therapeutic considerationa. In Sapir & Nitzburg (Eds.).Children with learning problems. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1973, pp. 551–568.
Winokur, G. Heredity in the affective disorders. In Anthony and Benedek (Eds.),Depression and human existence. Boston: Little Brown Co., 1975, pp. 7–20.
Wolpert, E.A. Manic-depressive illness as an actual neurosis. In Anthony and Benedeck (Eds.),Depression and human existence. Boston: Little Brown Co., 1975, pp. 199–222.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Consultant at Dysfunctioning Child Centre, Michael Reese Medical Center, and in Private Practice.
Judith Feigon, is a staff menber at Dysfunctioning Child Centre, Michael Reese Medical Center
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Palombo, J., Feigon, J. Borderline personality development in childhood and its relationship to neurocognitive deficits. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 1, 18–33 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844568
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844568