scholarly journals Are Impairments in Theory of Mind Specific to Borderline Personality Disorder?

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eivind Normann-Eide ◽  
Bj⊘rnar Torske Antonsen ◽  
Elfrida Hartveit Kvarstein ◽  
Geir Pedersen ◽  
Anja Vaskinn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Interpersonal Problems ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Relationship

Impaired theory of mind (ToM) is an assumed feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, no studies have compared ToM abilities in patients with BPD, other personality disorders, and healthy controls, or investigated the relationship between ToM and severity of psychopathology and interpersonal problems. In this study, ToM was investigated by the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition. No differences were found between the three groups in overall ToM abilities. The BPD group was, however, characterized by more excessive ToM (interpreted as hypermentalization). Yet, when differentiating between BPD and further severity indicators, excessive ToM was not specifically associated with a BPD diagnosis per se. Finally, there was a moderate association between hypermentalization and interpersonal problems in the BPD group. This study suggests that BPD patients tend to hypermentalize when they misinterpret social information, and that this tendency is related to the severity of their psychopathology.

A meta-analysis of theory of mind and ‘mentalization’ in borderline personality disorder: a true neuro-social-cognitive or meta-social-cognitive impairment?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Emre Bora
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Style ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Meta Analyses

Abstract Background It is widely accepted that borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with significant impairments in mentalization and theory of mind (ToM) which are considered as closely related concepts by many authors particularly in psychoanalytical circles. However, for understanding interpersonal difficulties in personality disorders, it is important to distinguish neuro-social cognitive impairment from the abnormal meta-social-cognitive style of patients. Methods The current systematic review aimed to conduct separate meta-analyses of ‘mentalization’ [reflective functioning (RF] and different aspects of ToM in BPD. A literature search was conducted to locate relevant articles published between January 1990 to July 2021. Random-effect meta-analyses were conducted in 34 studies involving 1448 individuals with BPD and 2006 healthy controls. Results A very large impairment in RF was evident in BPD [d = 1.68, confidence interval (CI) = 1.17–2.19]. In contrast, ToM impairment was modest (d = 0.36, CI = 0.24–0.48). BPD patients underperformed healthy controls in ToM-reasoning (d = 0.44, CI = 0.32–0.56) but not ToM-decoding. Increased HyperToM (d = 0.60, CI = 0.41–0.79) and faux pas recognition (d = 0.62, CI = 0.35–0.90) errors in BPD compared to healthy controls were most robust ToM findings in this meta-analysis. Conclusions BPD is characterized by very severe deficits in RF and modest and selective abnormalities in ToM. Interpersonal problems and difficulties in processing social information in BPD can be best explained by patients' maldaptive meta-social cognitive style and top-down effects of these abnormalities rather than having a primary neuro-social cognitive deficit.

The Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Trait Clinical Features in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 730-749
Author(s):  
Martino Belvederi Murri ◽  
Federica Folesani ◽  
Silvia Costa ◽  
Bruno Biancosino ◽  
Luigi Zerbinati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Clinical Features ◽  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Brief Symptom Inventory ◽  
Structure Questionnaire ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Personality Dysfunction ◽  
The Relationship

Very few studies have focused on the relationship between cognitive functions and clinical features in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Subjects with BPD and healthy controls were administered the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Trail Making Test A and B, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-53) was used to assess the severity of current symptoms. Attachment style was assessed with the Experiences in Close Relationship Questionnaire, identity integration with the Personality Structure Questionnaire, and other domains of personality dysfunction with the RUDE Scale for Personality Dysfunction. Patients with BPD performed significantly worse than healthy controls in all cognitive domains. Cognitive functions, particularly delayed memory and visuospatial abilities, displayed meaningful associations with trait-like clinical features, above the effect of global cognition and state psychopathology. These findings highlight the need to evaluate effects of cognitive rehabilitation on trait features among individuals with BPD.

Self-Compassion Mediates the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 838-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah J. Scheibner ◽  
Anna Daniels ◽  
Simon Guendelman ◽  
Franca Utz ◽  
Felix Bermpohl
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Psychological Process ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Self Compassion ◽  
Nonclinical Sample ◽  
The Relationship

Individuals suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience difficulties with mindfulness. How mindfulness influences BPD symptoms, however, is still unknown. We hypothesized that the relationship between mindfulness and BPD symptoms would be mediated by self-compassion. In study 1, we recruited 29 individuals with BPD and 30 group-matched healthy controls. In study 2, we complemented our results with findings from a larger, nonclinical sample of 89 participants that were recruited during an open-house event at the local university. All participants completed questionnaires assessing self-compassion, mindfulness, BPD symptom severity, and emotion dysregulation. In both studies, self-compassion mediated the relationship between mindfulness and BPD symptom severity as well as between mindfulness and emotion dysregulation. Self-compassion seems to be one psychological process that could explain the relationship between mindfulness and BPD symptoms. One promising approach in therapy could be to target self-compassion more directly during mindfulness trainings and interventions.

scholarly journals Effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on empathy and approach motivation in women with borderline personality disorder: a randomized controlled trial

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Domes ◽  
Nicole Ower ◽  
Bernadette von Dawans ◽  
Franny B. Spengler ◽  
Isabel Dziobek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Dose ◽  
Social Cognition ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Beneficial Effect ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Approach Motivation ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Social Approach

AbstractBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by severe interpersonal dysfunction with problems in social cognition, empathy and social approach. Although the neuropeptide oxytocin is known to regulate complex social cognition and behavior in healthy individuals and clinical populations, there is still a lack of evidence for a potential beneficial effect of oxytocin administration on social cognition and social approach in BPD. Fifty-one women with BPD and 51 matched healthy controls were randomized to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject experimental trial. We administered a single dose of 24 IU oxytocin or placebo intranasally prior to a standardized task measuring affective and cognitive empathy and approach motivation. All participants were free of hormonal contraception and tested in the mid-luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. In the placebo condition, patients with BPD showed reduced cognitive and affective empathy, and less approach behavior motivation than healthy controls. Intranasal oxytocin significantly increased affective empathy and approach motivation in both BPD patients and healthy controls compared to placebo. More importantly, oxytocin administration led to similar scores between BPD and healthy controls. These findings provide the first evidence for a beneficial effect of oxytocin on deficits in affective empathy and approach motivation of BPD. Our results indicate a beneficial effect of a single dose of oxytocin on affective empathy and approach motivation in women with BPD adapting their level of social functioning to healthy controls. Future clinical trials will need to investigate the long-term effects and effectiveness of oxytocin as an add-on treatment for social impairments in BPD.

scholarly journals The relationship between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-169 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Bipolar Spectrum ◽  
Bipolar Ii ◽  
Axis I ◽  
Bipolar Patients ◽  
The Relationship

It is clinically important to recognize both bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD) in patients seeking treatment for depression, and it is important to distinguish between the two. Research considering whether BPD should be considered part of a bipolar spectrum reaches differing conclusions. We reviewed the most studied question on the relationship between BPD and bipolar disorder: their diagnostic concordance. Across studies, approximately 10% of patients with BPD had bipolar I disorder and another 10% had bipolar II disorder. Likewise, approximately 20% of bipolar II patients were diagnosed with BPD, though only 10% of bipolar I patients were diagnosed with BPD. While the comorbidity rates are substantial, each disorder is nontheless diagnosed in the absence of the other in the vast majority of cases (80% to 90%). In studies examining personality disorders broadly, other personality disorders were more commonly diagnosed in bipolar patients than was BPD. Likewise, the converse is also true: other axis I disorders such as major depression, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder are also more commonly diagnosed in patients with BPD than is bipolar disorder. These findings challenge the notion that BPD is part of the bipolar spectrum.

scholarly journals Attachment and social cognition in borderline personality disorder: Specificity in relation to antisocial and avoidant personality disorders.

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Beeney ◽  
Stephanie D. Stepp ◽  
Michael N. Hallquist ◽  
Lori N. Scott ◽  
Aidan G. C. Wright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Borderline Personality

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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