scholarly journals Dyadic Emotion Regulation in Women with Borderline Personality Disorder

Author(s):  
Annemarie Miano ◽  
Sven Barnow ◽  
Stina Wagner ◽  
Stefan Roepke ◽  
Isabel Dziobek

Abstract Background Emotion regulation (ER) and interpersonal dysfunction constitute key features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Here, we tested if females with BPD show impairments in dyadic ER, that is in their support seeking and creation of closeness. We investigated if women with BPD might over-rely on their male partner by excessive support seeking and establishing of closeness, during conversations with personally and relationship-threatening topics. Methods Thirty couples in which the women were diagnosed with BPD and 34 healthy control (HC) couples were videotaped while discussing neutral, personally threatening, and relationship-threatening topics. Support seeking was rated by three independent raters, using a naïve observer method. The creation of closeness was rated using a continuous video-rating. Perceived emotions were assessed using self-report after each conversation. Results Women with BPD engaged in more support seeking than HC women, especially in more negative behaviors to elicit support, they created less closeness to their partner than HCs and reported a greater decline of positive emotions in both threatening conditions. Women with BPD displayed more fluctuations than controls between creating closeness and distance in the personally-threatening situation. They reported a larger increase in negative emotions after the relationship threatening conversation compared to female HC. Conclusions The present study indicates an increased demand of dyadic ER in BPD. Increased negative support seeking and less creation of closeness to the partner might reflect ineffective strategies to actually receive support from the partner.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Skye Fitzpatrick ◽  
Sonya Varma ◽  
Janice R. Kuo

Abstract Background Leading theories suggest that borderline personality disorder (BPD) is an emotion dysregulation disorder involving lower basal vagal tone, higher baseline emotion, heightened emotional reactivity, delayed emotional recovery, and emotion regulation deficits. However, the literature to date lacks a unifying paradigm that tests all of the main emotion dysregulation components and comprehensively examines whether BPD is an emotion dysregulation disorder and, if so, in what ways. This study addresses the empirical gaps with a unified paradigm that assessed whether BPD is characterized by five leading emotion dysregulation components compared to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and healthy control (HC) groups. Methods Emotion was assessed across self-report, sympathetic, and parasympathetic indices. Participants with BPD, GAD, and HCs (N = 120) first underwent baseline periods assessing basal vagal tone and baseline emotional intensity, followed by rejection-themed stressors assessing emotional reactivity. Participants then either reacted normally to assess emotional recovery or attempted to decrease emotion using mindfulness or distraction to assess emotion regulation implementation deficits. Results Individuals with BPD and GAD exhibited higher self-reported and sympathetic baseline emotion compared to HCs. The BPD group also exhibited self-reported emotion regulation deficits using distraction only compared to the GAD group. Conclusions There is minimal support for several emotion dysregulation components in BPD, and some components that are present appear to be pervasive across high emotion dysregulation groups rather than specific to BPD. However, BPD may be characterized by problems disengaging from emotion using distraction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1396-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marialuisa Cavelti ◽  
Salvatore Corbisiero ◽  
Hannes Bitto ◽  
Beatrice Moerstedt ◽  
Patricia Newark ◽  
...  

Objective: Emotion dysregulation has been described as a central feature of both borderline personality disorder (BPD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current study aims to compare emotion regulation among ADHD, BPD, and healthy controls (HC). Method: Eighty adults with ADHD, 55 with BPD, and 55 HC completed self-report assessments of ADHD and BPD symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and emotion regulation skills. Principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted on the emotion regulation items, followed by multivariate analyses of group differences in emotion regulation. Results: PCA yielded four components: “Being Aware of Emotions,” “Making Sense of Emotions,” “Modifying and Accepting Emotions,” and “Confronting Emotions With Self-Encouragement.” The last component best distinguished the two patient groups from the HC. No differences were found between adults with ADHD and BPD. Conclusion: Adults with ADHD and BPD report comparable difficulties in encouraging oneself to attend inner aversive experiences, without engaging in impulsive behavior.


Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Frei ◽  
Vladimir Sazhin ◽  
Melissa Fick ◽  
Keong Yap

Abstract. Psychiatric hospitalization can cause significant distress for patients. Research has shown that to cope with the stress, patients sometimes resort to self-harm. Given the paucity of research on self-harm among psychiatric inpatients, a better understanding of transdiagnostic processes as predictors of self-harm during psychiatric hospitalization is needed. The current study examined whether coping styles predicted self-harm after controlling for commonly associated factors, such as age, gender, and borderline personality disorder. Participants were 72 patients (mean age = 39.32 years, SD = 12.29, 64% male) admitted for inpatient treatment at a public psychiatric hospital in Sydney, Australia. Participants completed self-report measures of coping styles and ward-specific coping behaviors, including self-harm, in relation to coping with the stress of acute hospitalization. Results showed that younger age, diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, and higher emotion-oriented coping were associated with self-harm. After controlling for age and borderline personality disorder, higher levels of emotion-oriented coping were found to be a significant predictor of self-harm. Findings were partially consistent with hypotheses; emotion-oriented but not avoidance-oriented coping significantly predicted self-harm. This finding may help to identify and provide psychiatric inpatients who are at risk of self-harm with appropriate therapeutic interventions.


Author(s):  
Jill M. Hooley ◽  
Sara R. Masland

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe form of personality pathology characterized by high levels of negative emotionality. Because negative emotions are so central to the clinical presentation of BPD, the issue of how people with this disorder process and experience positive emotional experiences is relatively unexplored. This chapter provides an overview of what is currently known about positive emotions and BPD. Although the literature is characterized by many inconsistencies, our review suggests that people with BPD do indeed experience positive emotions. However, their recall of positive emotional experiences appears to be reduced, perhaps because such experiences are more transient, less stable, and more likely to be quickly replaced by negative emotions. Problems with the identification and accurate differentiation of positive emotions may also play a role. Such difficulties may conspire to create a psychological world for people with BPD that is characterized by a focus on negative mood and negative emotional experiences. In addition to focusing on negative affect, we suggest that it might also be clinically beneficial to make problems with positive affect a specific clinical target.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Kolbeck ◽  
Steffen Moritz ◽  
Julia Bierbrodt ◽  
Christina Andreou

Ongoing research is shifting towards a dimensional understanding of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Aim of this study was to identify personality profiles in BPD that are predictive of self-destructive behaviors. Personality traits were assessed (n = 130) according to the five-factor model of personality (i.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) and an additional factor called Risk Preference. Self-destructive behavior parameters such as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and other borderline typical dyscontrolled behaviors (e.g., drug abuse) were assessed by self-report measures. Canonical correlation analyses demonstrated that Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness are predictors of NSSI. Further, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Risk Preference were associated with dyscontrolled behaviors. Our results add further support on personality-relevant self-destructive behaviors in BPD. A combined diagnostic assessment could offer clinically meaningful insights about the causes of self-destruction in BPD to expand current therapeutic repertoires.


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