Emotion identification and tension in female patients with borderline personality disorder.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigates the identification of emotions in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), when compared with mentally healthy control subjects. The inability to identify different emotions is considered as an essential component of affect dysregulation in BPD that has rarely been empirically investigated.


METHODS
In this study, 30 female borderline patients and 28 healthy control participants received a handheld-PC for a 24-hour period that reminded them hourly to enter data.


RESULTS
When compared with the control group, patients showed pronounced difficulties in emotion identification. Moreover, the data revealed a significant relationship between difficulties in identifying emotions and levels of aversive inner tension for BPD patients, but not for control subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that the inability to identify different emotions is a problem that characterizes borderline patients in real-life situations. Treatment programs should, therefore, focus on the improvement of emotion identification and regulation.
Wolff
Sabine
S
Freie Universitä Berlin, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin, Germany. wolffs@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Stiglmayr
Christian
C
Bretz
Hans Joachim
HJ
Lammers
Claas-Hinrich
CH
Auckenthaler
Anna
A
D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D012647:Self-Assessment