scholarly journals Quality or quantity? A multi-study analysis of emotion regulation skills deficits associated with Borderline Personality Disorder

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Southward ◽  
Jennifer S. Cheavens
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Biosocial Theory ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
And Control ◽  
Group D

Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory posits that people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) have emotion regulation skills deficits characterized by 1) less frequent use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, 2) more frequent use of maladaptive strategies, or 3) poorer quality strategy implementation (i.e., strategies implemented less skillfully). We tested these possibilities among participants with BPD, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), or no disorder (controls). Study 1 participants (N = 272) were recruited online; Study 2 participants (N = 90) completed in-person diagnostic assessments. The BPD groups reported greater use of maladaptive strategies than the MDD (d = .35) and control (d = 1.54) groups and lower quality implementation than the MDD (d = .33) and control groups (d = .97). BPD participants reported similar use of adaptive strategies as the MDD group (d = .09) but less use than controls (d = .47). BPD may be uniquely characterized by overuse of maladaptive strategies and poorer quality emotion regulation implementation.

Nomothetic and Idiographic Patterns of Responses to Emotions in Borderline Personality Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Cardona ◽  
Matthew W. Southward ◽  
Kayla Furbish ◽  
Alexandra Comeau ◽  
Shannon Sauer-Zavala
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotional Experiences ◽  
Discrete Emotions ◽  
Specific Data ◽  
Daily Diary Study ◽  
Biosocial Theory ◽  
Regulation Strategies

According to Linehan's (1993a) biosocial theory, emotion dysregulation is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Despite significant advances in our understanding of emotion dysregulation in BPD, the specific associations among prompting events, discrete emotions, and selected regulation strategies (adaptive and maladaptive) have not yet been detailed. We explored these relations in a daily diary study of eight participants (Mage = 21.57, 63% female; 63% Asian) with BPD over 10-12 weeks. Participants reported prompting events of interpersonal conflict, emotional experiences of anxiety, and strategies of problem-solving and intentional avoidance most frequently. We found several unique relations between regulation strategies and both prompting events and discrete emotions, nomothetically (across all participants) and idiographically (within specific participants). These patterns contribute to an enriched understanding of the emotional experiences of people with BPD, and demonstrate the value of collecting and considering both group-level and person-specific data on emotion regulation processes within this population.

scholarly journals A laboratory examination of emotion regulation skill strengthening in borderline personality disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca K. Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Skin Conductance Response ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Laboratory Examination ◽  
Mindful Awareness ◽  
Multiple Trials ◽  
Regulation Strategies

The present study examined emotion regulation skill strengthening among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) compared to healthy controls (HCs). Participants were instructed to repeatedly implement two emotion regulation strategies (i.e., distraction and mindful awareness) in response to BPD-relevant stimuli across multiple trials. Throughout the task, both self-reported negativity and positivity, and physiological indices of emotion (i.e., heart rate and skin conductance response) were collected. Results indicated that individuals with BPD and HCs displayed improvements in distraction compared to the control condition, but not in mindful awareness over time. When comparing the two emotion regulation strategies to each other, rate of skill strengthening varied by group. Specifically, HCs evidenced improvements in distraction. In contrast, individuals with BPD evidenced improvements in mindful awareness. These findings suggest that individuals with BPD do not show deficits in skill strengthening as compared to HCs.

scholarly journals A laboratory examination of emotion regulation skill strengthening in borderline personality disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca K. Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Skin Conductance Response ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Laboratory Examination ◽  
Mindful Awareness ◽  
Multiple Trials ◽  
Regulation Strategies

The present study examined emotion regulation skill strengthening among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) compared to healthy controls (HCs). Participants were instructed to repeatedly implement two emotion regulation strategies (i.e., distraction and mindful awareness) in response to BPD-relevant stimuli across multiple trials. Throughout the task, both self-reported negativity and positivity, and physiological indices of emotion (i.e., heart rate and skin conductance response) were collected. Results indicated that individuals with BPD and HCs displayed improvements in distraction compared to the control condition, but not in mindful awareness over time. When comparing the two emotion regulation strategies to each other, rate of skill strengthening varied by group. Specifically, HCs evidenced improvements in distraction. In contrast, individuals with BPD evidenced improvements in mindful awareness. These findings suggest that individuals with BPD do not show deficits in skill strengthening as compared to HCs.

scholarly journals P055 Mechanisms Underlying Sleep Disturbance in Young People with Borderline Personality Disorder Features

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A39-A39
Author(s):  
C Jenkins ◽  
K Thompson ◽  
C Nicholas ◽  
A Chanen
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Young People ◽  
Impulse Control ◽  
Emotional Awareness ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Subjective Sleep ◽  
Regulation Strategies

Abstract Introduction Sleep problems are common in young people (aged 15–25 years) with features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain largely unknown. This study explored the indirect roles of emotion regulation difficulties, depression, anxiety and stress in the relationship between BPD features and sleep disturbance in young people. Method Sleep was measured subjectively (self-report) and objectively (10 days wrist actigraphy) in 40 young people with BPD features (36 females, Mage = 19.77, SD = 2.51) and 38 healthy young people (34 females, Mage = 20.06, SD = 2.52). Participants also completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Results Mediation analyses revealed that impulse control difficulties, limited access to emotion regulation strategies, and anxiety played an indirect role in subjective sleep disturbances in young people with BPD features. Lack of emotional awareness and anxiety indirectly contributed to associations between BPD features and objectively longer time in bed and bedtime variability, respectively. Discussion Targeting impulse control difficulties, emotion regulation strategies and anxiety through improving impulse control, improving emotion regulation skills and reducing pre-sleep arousal might be beneficial for improving subjective sleep in this population. Similarly, improving emotional awareness and reducing anxiety might help to normalise objective sleep patterns. Overall, these findings help to guide the development of targeted sleep-improvement strategies that might serve as useful adjuncts to current interventions for young people with BPD features.

scholarly journals A Day in the Life of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary Analysis of Within-Day Emotion Generation and Regulation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew W. Southward ◽  
Stephen Semcho ◽  
Nicole Stumpp ◽  
Destiney MacLean ◽  
Shannon Sauer-Zavala
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Behavioral Responses ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Emotional Experiences ◽  
Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽  
Emotion Intensity ◽  
Regulation Strategies

In Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory, borderline personality disorder (BPD) results in part from frequent, intense, negative emotions and maladaptive behavioral responses to those emotions. We conducted a secondary data analysis of an intensive single-case experimental design to explore hourly relations among behavioral responses and emotions in BPD. Eight participants with BPD (Mage = 21.57, 63% female; 63% Asian) reported their emotions and behaviors hourly on two days. Participants reported a neutral-to-negative average emotional state with substantial variability each day. This emotional state was characterized most frequently by anxiety and joy. Participants tended to “dig into”, or savor, experiences of joy, but problem-solve around, push away, or accept anxiety. Acceptance predicted hour-by-hour increases in negative emotion intensity, and pushing emotions away predicted hour-by-hour increases in positive emotion intensity. These results suggest that anxiety dominates the emotional experiences of people with BPD and co-occurs with a variety of emotion regulation strategies, while joy co-occurs with strategies designed to prolong emotional experiences. Despite its general adaptiveness, acceptance may be less effective, and pushing emotions away may be more effective, than other emotion regulation strategies at improving momentary negative emotions for those with BPD. We discuss the preliminary nature of these findings and encourage future researchers to build on them in larger samples with more severe presentations of BPD.

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