title: Comparison of different strategies to decrease negative affect and increase positive affect in women with borderline personality disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this study we compared the effect of different emotion regulation strategies on positive and negative emotions in patients with borderline personality disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Emotion regulation strategies were a distracting task, individual positive memory imagery, individual soothing imagery, and a neutral comparison condition. During two separate sessions, 17 participants watched either neutral or negative movie segments before using these strategies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All three strategies influenced emotions into a favorable direction as compared to the neutral comparison condition. The positive memory image increased positive emotions significantly stronger than counting colors and distracting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different strategies seem to have similar effects in decreasing negative emotions. Positive emotions may be affected in particular by positive and soothing imagery techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany. gitta.jacob@uniklinik-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Gitta A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arendt
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kolley
authors.forename: Corinna N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Scheel
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bader
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lieb
authors.forename: Arnoud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arntz
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tüscher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*