Negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability in the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms (original) (raw)
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Assessment, 2010
Linehan's biosocial theory suggests that borderline personality disorder (BPD) results from a transaction of two childhood precursors: emotional vulnerability and an invalidating environment. Until recently, few empirical studies have explored relationships between these theoretical precursors and symptoms of the disorder. Psychometrically sound assessment tools are essential to this area of research. The present study examined psychometric characteristics of recently developed selfreport measures of childhood emotional vulnerability and parental invalidation. A large sample of undergraduates completed these measures; parent reports were collected to examine agreement between young adults' and parents' recollections of their emotional style in childhood and the parenting they received. Both measures were internally consistent, showed clear factor structures, and were significantly correlated with BPD features and related constructs. In addition, both showed modest, yet significant agreement between participants' and parents' reports. Overall, this study supports the utility of these measures of childhood emotional vulnerability and environmental invalidation.
Adolescent Precursors of Adult Borderline Personality Pathology in a High-Risk Community Sample
Journal of Personality Disorders, 2015
Longitudinal studies of the exact environmental conditions and personal attributes contributing to the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD) are rare. Furthermore, existing research typically examines risk factors in isolation, limiting our knowledge of the relative effect sizes of different risk factors and how they act in concert to bring about borderline personality pathology. The present study investigated the prospective effects of diverse acute and chronic stressors, proband psychopathology, and maternal psychopathology on BPD features in a high-risk community sample (N = 700) of youth followed from mid-adolescence to young adulthood. Multivariate analyses revealed significant effects of maternal externalizing disorder history, offspring internalizing disorder history, family stressors, and school-related stressors on BPD risk. Contrary to expectations, no interactions between chronically stressful environmental conditions and personal characteristics in predicting borderline personality features were detected. Implications of these findings for etiological theories of BPD and early screening efforts are discussed.
2017
The current study examined the relationship between emotional vulnerability, invalidation, and emotion dysregulation as they predicted borderline features in a community sample of young adolescents. Emotional vulnerability, as measured by trait negative affect (trait NA), as well as the psychophysiological component of basal vagal tone, as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), were proposed as risk factors for borderline features. Emotion dysregulation as indexed both by psychophysiological indices (vagal tone in response to stress i.e., RSA reactivity) and self-report measures was hypothesized to function as a mediator between trait NA and borderline features. A moderated mediation model was then proposed with parental invalidation moderating the relationship between trait NA and emotion dysregulation. A total of 101 youth, 53% female, with a mean age of 12.82 (SD=0.83) completed a laboratory task to measure their RSA at rest and while completing a stressor task. Trait NA, parental invalidation, emotion dysregulation, and borderline features were assessed through self-report questionnaires. Support was found when models were assessed cross-sectionally, using self-report measures only. The direct effect of trait NA on borderline features was significantly mediated by emotion dysregulation. Furthermore parental invalidation did function as a moderator between trait NA and emotion dysregulation. The full moderated mediation model was also significant. When measured using psychophysiological indices, no relationship was found between any study variables. Results indicate that child temperament, specifically trait NA, and invalidating parenting interact to produce emotional dysregulation, which is related to increased borderline pathology among vi adolescents. However, the study did not implicate the involvement of physiological vulnerabilities and patterns of responding in the development of borderline features. This study suggests that understanding the risk for the development of borderline features in adolescence needs more rigorous and continued research, particularly in understanding the biological risk and role of psychophysiological responding to stress in the development of the disorder. Further exploration of how these variables are related will be important in understanding the etiology of borderline features across development.
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2021
Introduction:Borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescents is characterized by emotional dysregulation, insecure attachment, a history of stressful life events (SLEs) as well as dysfunctional parent–child interactions. The respective contribution of each of these factors on BPD affective symptoms is not yet clear. The purpose of this study is to assess the distinct impact of parental adversity and SLEs on BPD affective symptoms and the role of attachment and alexithymia in such emotional processes.Method:This study explored parental dysfunction and SLEs as predictors of affective symptoms of BPD and of attachment insecurity in BPD adolescents (n= 85) and healthy controls (n= 84) aged 13–19 years from the European Research Network on BPD. The links between adversity and BPD symptoms were also investigated by emotional dysregulation assessment, as measured by alexithymia and hopelessness.Results:Dysfunctional parental interactions were linked to affective symptoms, hopelessness...
Journal of personality disorders, 2015
In recent years, major gains toward understanding the emergence of borderline personality disorder (BPD) pathology, which is typically first noted during adolescence, have been made. Simultaneously, a profound shift has occurred in the adult personality pathology literature, in which empirical evidence rebuts the idea that personality disorders (PDs) are intractable disorders that do not develop or otherwise change over time, and therefore cannot be treated. The present study addresses a gap in our understanding of within-person change in BPD symptoms across adolescence and contributes to the limited literature on outcomes associated with adolescent BPD. Using an at-risk community sample of girls (N = 2,450), the authors used bivariate latent growth curve models to analyze the codevelopment of BPD symptoms with eight domains of psychosocial functioning (e.g., academic achievement, social skills, sexual behavior) across ages 14-17. Findings revealed moderate to strong effect sizes fo...
Journal of Personality Disorders, 2012
The Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index-IV-adolescent and parent versions (BPDSI-IV-ado/p) are DSM-IV based semi-structured interviews for the assessment of the severity of symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescents. The present study evaluates the psychometric properties of the BPDSI-IV-ado/p. The interviews were administered to 122 adolescents, aged 14-19 years and their parents/caretakers who were referred to mental health centres for emotion regulation problems, and to 45 healthy controls. The interrater reliability and internal consistency of all nine subscales (following the nine BPD symptoms in DSM-IV) proved to be good to excellent. Discriminant, concurrent, and construct validity were satisfactory. Cutoff scores that optimize sensitivity and specificity were derived. Informant agreement between adolescents and parents/caretakers was modest. The results of this study suggest that the BPDSI-IV adolescent and parent versions are valid and reliable instruments for the assessment of BPD symptom severity in adolescents. Assessment and treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in adolescence have long been neglected, and many health professionals are hesitant in diagnosing BPD prior to age 18 (Crick, Murray-Close, & Woods, 2005). However, there is a growing body of evidence for a reliable and valid
Early family environments and traumatic experiences associated with borderline personality disorder
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1993
Childhood trauma experiences (e.g., sexual abuse, physical abuse, witnessed violence, and early separation experiences) and family environment characteristics were assessed with a questionnaire from a sample of depressed female inpatients; 17 were diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder (BPD), and 19 received no such diagnosis (NBPD). Significantly more BPD individuals than NBPD individuals reported histories of sexual abuse, physical abuse, and witnessed violence. Of these trauma variables, sexual abuse emerged as the only significant predictor of dimensional BPD score, even after physical abuse, subjective depression score, diagnostic differences between groups, and family environment were controlled. Early separation experiences were nonsignificantly different between groups. Although the BPD families were reported to be distinctive for several different family environment characteristics, the control dimension significantly predicted dimensional borderline score even after sexual abuse was controlled. These results suggest that sexual abuse and general family environment need further study for a fuller understanding of BPD symptomatology. We thank Betty Gillespie and Michael Priester for assisting with diagnostic reliability.
Personality disorders, 2018
In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services project, we examined the role of emotion dysregulation as a mediator between childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder (BPD) feature severity among a sample of 964 adults presenting for treatment at an outpatient clinic. A structural equation model suggested that emotional abuse relates to BPD features both directly and through difficulties with emotion regulation, whereas physical abuse showed only a weak indirect relation with BPD features. There was no link between sexual abuse and BPD feature severity in the model. Results add specificity to etiological theories of BPD and suggest that future research in treatment should focus on developing and strengthening emotion regulation strategies in clinical populations with a history of emotional abuse. Clinicians should be sure to assess the presence of childhood emotional abuse in addition to sexual and physical abuse. (PsycINFO...
Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms and Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning
Journal of Personality Disorders, 2008
To date, the influence of maternal borderline personality disorder (BPD) on perceptions of infants' emotional expressions has not been examined. This study investigated the relation of maternal BPD symptoms to discrepancies between mother-reported and observed infant expressions of fear and anger. Emotional expressions in response to fear-and anger-eliciting stimuli were observed among 101 12-to 23-month-old infants of mothers with a range of BPD symptoms. Mothers also reported on their infants' past-month fear and anger expressions. Findings from polynomial regression analyses revealed that maternal BPD symptoms (particularly BPD interpersonal symptoms) are associated with greater convergence of mother-reported and observed infant anger expressions. Furthermore, although maternal BPD symptoms were not related to discrepancies between mother-reported and observed infant fear, findings did reveal a relation between maternal BPD symptoms and observed infant fear expressions, such that maternal BPD symptoms related to both low and high (vs. moderate) levels of fear expressions in the laboratory. Moreover, BPD behavioral symptoms in particular were associated with greater convergence of mother-reported and observed infant fear expressions. Overall, findings contribute to the literature on the impact of maternal BPD on parenting and infant outcomes, and highlight the relevance of maternal BPD symptoms to discrepancies between perceived and observed infant negative emotional expressions.
An Investigation of the Biosocial Model of Borderline Personality Disorder
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2014
Objectives: We sought to test the biosocial theory of borderline personality disorder (BPD) which posits that borderline traits are due to emotional dysregulation, caused by a combination of an emotionally vulnerable child being raised in an emotionally invalidating environment. Methods: 250 adults (76% female, median age = 32.06 years) from a non-clinical population completed self-report measures assessing current levels of borderline traits and emotional dysregulation. They also completed retrospective measures of childhood emotional vulnerability and parental invalidation. Results: Invalidating parenting and emotional vulnerability independently predicted emotion dysregulation, but an interaction effect was not found. Having experienced validating parenting was found to be a protective factor for developing borderline traits but was not significantly related to emotional dysregulation. Conclusions: Data in this sample did not support the underlying genesis of BPD proposed by the biosocial theory and a model that more parsimoniously explains the development of BPD is proposed.