scholarly journals Women With Borderline Personality Disorder Show Reduced Identification of Emotional Facial Expressions and a Heightened Negativity Bias

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Vestergaard ◽  
Mickey T. Kongerslev ◽  
Marianne S. Thomsen ◽  
Birgit Bork Mathiesen ◽  
Catherine J. Harmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Negativity Bias ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
Probe Task ◽  
Healthy Female

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) frequently display impairments in the identification of emotional facial expressions paralleled by a negativity bias. However, it remains unclear whether misperception of facial expressions is a key psychopathological marker of BPD. To address this question, the authors examined 43 women diagnosed with BPD and 56 healthy female controls using an emotion face identification task and a face dot-probe task together with measures on psychopathology. Compared to controls, women with BPD showed impaired identification of disgusted and angry faces concurrent with a bias to misclassify faces as angry, and a faster preconscious vigilance for fearful relative to happy facial expressions. Increased severity of borderline symptoms and global psychopathology in BPD patients were associated with reduced ability to identify angry facial expressions and a stronger negativity bias to anger. The findings indicate that BPD patients who misperceive face emotions have the greatest mental health issues.

scholarly journals Enhanced Detection of Emotional Facial Expressions in Borderline Personality Disorder

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Schulze ◽  
Gregor Domes ◽  
Dürken Köppen ◽  
Sabine C. Herpertz
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions

Facial Emotion Perception in Families Affected With Borderline Personality Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement A) ◽  
pp. 132-148
Author(s):  
Tahira Gulamani ◽  
Achala H. Rodrigo ◽  
Amanda A. Uliaszek ◽  
Anthony C. Ruocco
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Familial Aggregation ◽  
Emotion Perception ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Facial Emotion ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Comparable Accuracy

Emotion perception biases may precipitate problematic interpersonal interactions in families affected with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and lead to conflictual relationships. In the present study, the authors investigated the familial aggregation of facial emotion recognition biases for neutral, happy, sad, fearful, and angry expressions in probands with BPD (n = 89), first-degree biological relatives (n = 67), and healthy controls (n = 87). Relatives showed comparable accuracy and response times to controls in recognizing negative emotions in aggregate and most discrete emotions. For sad expressions, both probands and relatives displayed slower response latencies, and they were more likely than controls to perceive sad expressions as fearful. Nonpsychiatrically affected relatives were slower than controls in responding to negative emotional expressions in aggregate, and fearful and sad facial expressions more specifically. These findings uncover potential biases in perceiving sad and fearful facial expressions that may be transmitted in families affected with BPD.

Negative bias in fast emotion discrimination in borderline personality disorder

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 855-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dyck ◽  
U. Habel ◽  
J. Slodczyk ◽  
J. Schlummer ◽  
V. Backes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Co Morbidity ◽  
Direct Discrimination

BackgroundThe ability to decode emotional information from facial expressions is crucial for successful social interaction. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by serious problems in interpersonal relationships and emotional functioning. Empirical research on facial emotion recognition in BPD has been sparsely published and results are inconsistent. To specify emotion recognition deficits in BPD more closely, the present study implemented two emotion recognition tasks differing in response format.MethodNineteen patients with BPD and 19 healthy subjects were asked to evaluate the emotional content of visually presented stimuli (emotional and neutral faces). The first task, the Fear Anger Neutral (FAN) Test, required a rapid discrimination between negative or neutral facial expressions whereas in the second task, the Emotion Recognition (ER) Test, a precise decision regarding default emotions (sadness, happiness, anger, fear and neutral) had to be achieved without a time limit.ResultsIn comparison to healthy subjects, BPD patients showed a deficit in emotion recognition only in the fast discrimination of negative and neutral facial expressions (FAN Test). Consistent with earlier findings, patients demonstrated a negative bias in the evaluation of neutral facial expressions. When processing time was unlimited (ER Test), BPD patients performed as well as healthy subjects in the recognition of specific emotions. In addition, an association between performance in the fast discrimination task (FAN Test) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) co-morbidity was indicated.ConclusionsOur data suggest a selective deficit of BPD patients in rapid and direct discrimination of negative and neutral emotional expressions that may underlie difficulties in social interactions.

scholarly journals What’s in a face? Mentalizing in borderline personality disorder based on dynamically changing facial expressions.

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedicte Lowyck ◽  
Patrick Luyten ◽  
Dominique Vanwalleghem ◽  
Rudi Vermote ◽  
Linda C. Mayes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Borderline Personality

Facial emotional expression in reaction to social exclusion in borderline personality disorder

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 1929-1938 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Staebler ◽  
B. Renneberg ◽  
M. Stopsack ◽  
P. Fiedler ◽  
M. Weiler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions

BackgroundDisturbances in social interaction are a defining feature of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this study, facial emotional expressions, which are crucial for adaptive interactions in social contexts, were assessed in patients with BPD in response to social exclusion.MethodWe examined facial emotional reactions of 35 patients with BPD and 33 healthy controls when playing Cyberball, a virtual ball-tossing game that reliably induces social exclusion. Besides self-reported emotional responses, facial emotional expressions were analyzed by applying the Emotional Facial Action Coding System (EMFACS).ResultsPatients with BPD showed a biased perception of participation. They more readily reported feeling excluded compared to controls even when they were included. In BPD, social exclusion led to an increase in self-reported other-focused negative emotions. Overall, EMFACS analyses revealed that BPD patients reacted with fewer positive expressions and with significantly more mixed emotional expressions (two emotional facial expressions at the same time) compared to the healthy control group when excluded.ConclusionsBesides a negative bias for perceived social participation, ambiguous facial emotional expressions may play an important role in the disturbed relatedness in patients with BPD.

scholarly journals Biased Attention to Facial Expressions of Ambiguous Emotions in Borderline Personality Disorder: An Eye-Tracking Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-S8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Kaiser ◽  
Gitta A. Jacob ◽  
Linda van Zutphen ◽  
Nicolette Siep ◽  
Andreas Sprenger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Ambiguous Faces

Preliminary evidence suggests that biased attention could be crucial in fostering the emotion recognition abnormalities in borderline personality disorder (BPD). We compared BPD patients to Cluster-C personality disorder (CC) patients and non-patients (NP) regarding emotion recognition in ambiguous faces and their visual attention allocation to the eyes. The role of comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in BPD regarding emotion recognition and visual attention was explored. BPD patients fixated the eyes of angry/happy, sad/happy, and fearful/sad blends longer than non-patients. This visual attention pattern was mainly driven by BPD patients with PTSD. This subgroup also demonstrated longer fixations than CC patients and a trend towards longer fixations than BPD patients without PTSD for the angry/happy and fearful/sad blends. Emotion recognition was not altered in BPD. Biased visual attention towards the eyes of ambiguous facial expressions in BPD might be due to trauma-related attentional bias rather than to impairments in facial emotion recognition.

scholarly journals A negative bias in decoding positive social cues characterizes emotion processing in patients with symptom-remitted Borderline Personality Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaus Kleindienst ◽  
Sophie Hauschild ◽  
Lisa Liebke ◽  
Janine Thome ◽  
Katja Bertsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Emotion Recognition ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Social Signals ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions

Abstract Background Impairments in the domain of interpersonal functioning such as the feeling of loneliness and fear of abandonment have been associated with a negative bias during processing of social cues in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Since these symptoms show low rates of remission, high rates of recurrence and are relatively resistant to treatment, in the present study we investigated whether a negative bias during social cognitive processing exists in BPD even after symptomatic remission. We focused on facial emotion recognition since it is one of the basal social-cognitive processes required for successful social interactions and building relationships. Methods Ninety-eight female participants (46 symptom-remitted BPD [r-BPD]), 52 healthy controls [HC]) rated the intensity of anger and happiness in ambiguous (anger/happiness blends) and unambiguous (emotion/neutral blends) emotional facial expressions. Additionally, participants assessed the confidence they experienced in their own judgments. Results R-BPD participants assessed ambiguous expressions as less happy and as more angry when the faces displayed predominantly happiness. Confidence in these judgments did not differ between groups, but confidence in judging happiness in predominantly happy faces was lower in BPD patients with a higher level of BPD psychopathology. Conclusions Evaluating social cues that signal the willingness to affiliate is characterized by a negative bias that seems to be a trait-like feature of social cognition in BPD. In contrast, confidence in judging positive social signals seems to be a state-like feature of emotion recognition in BPD that improves with attenuation in the level of acute BPD symptoms.

Metacognitive Training for Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (B-MCT)

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Kolbeck ◽  
Lisa Schilling
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Group Intervention ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Metacognitive Training ◽  
Low Threshold

Abstract. Metacognitive Training for borderline personality disorder (B-MCT) is a low-threshold group intervention program, which targets borderline-specific cognitive biases and aims to ameliorate borderline symptomatology. The goal of the intervention is to help patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) identify and weaken (meta-)cognitive biases (e. g., monocausal reasoning, high-confident responses when interpreting facial expressions) that play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of BPD. Metacognitive training for BPD utilizes a “backdoor approach” by attenuating cognitive biases with entertaining and playful exercises. The training demonstrates patients that cognitive biases are normal to a certain extent, however, can lead to dysfunctional thinking patterns and compromise patient’s judgement when escalated. Preliminary findings confirm the feasibility, acceptance, and efficacy of B-MCT. This article describes the implementation of B-MCT in detail.

scholarly journals Enhanced memory for negative social information in Borderline Personality Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inga Niedtfeld ◽  
Frank Renkewitz ◽  
Andreas Mädebach ◽  
Karen Hillmann ◽  
Nikolaus Kleindienst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Negativity Bias ◽  
Healthy Controls

This manuscript has been published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/abn0000540).Biased social cognition towards an enhanced processing of negative social information might contribute to instability in interpersonal relationships. Such interpersonal dysfunctions are important for the understanding of several mental disorders, among them borderline personality disorder (BPD). To experimentally test enhanced memory retrieval of negative social information, using a newly developed variant of a looking-at-nothing paradigm, 45 BPD patients and 36 healthy women learned positive and negative personality traits of different target persons. In a translational memory test, participants were asked to use the learned information to evaluate statements about the target person. In addition to behavioral measures of memory performance, we investigated eye gaze patterns to decompose memory retrieval processes. We hypothesized that BPD patients would retrieve negative as compared to positive person information more accurately than healthy controls, and show increased eye gaze towards spatial locations where negative information was provided during the learning phase. Results pointed to a more accurate retrieval of negative person attributes in the patient group as compared with healthy controls (HC), thereby corroborating a negativity bias in social cognition in an exemplary sample of patients with interpersonal problems. Interestingly, the observed negativity bias for person memory was associated with BPD severity, stronger expectancies to be rejected by others, and social detachment. No group differences regarding eye fixation behaviour were found. We propose that enhanced retrieval of negative person information might be associated with dysfunctional cognitive schemas as well as reduced behavioral trust, and be of relevance for mental disorders characterized by interpersonal difficulties.

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