title: [Slow processing in borderline personality disorder: the emotional Stroop paradigm].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emotional instability has been extensively considered the main core of the borderline personality disorder (BPD) that is characterised by an important bias towards emotional information. The aim of this study was to determine the emotional bias in patients with BPD by means of an emotional Stroop paradigm.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-one women (38 Borderline Personality Disorder outpatients and 23 healthy matched control subjects) were included. All of them underwent a computerised version of an emotional Stroop which included four valences: borderline-related negative, negative, positive and neutral.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that BPD patients were slower in spotting the ink of the words [F(1.59)=4.33; p=0.04], and this effect was mainly for borderline-related and neutral words. Likewise, the more severe the BPD the slower the subjects [F(2.57)=4.81; p=0.012], indicating difficulties in processing information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that the emotional dysregulation may account for selective processing with emotional stimulus, which in turn triggers emotional responses in BPD patients, rather than to reflect a more general hypervigilance and an attentional bias for any kind of stimulus.
authors: Instituto de Investigación, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental CIBERSAM, Spain. mportella@santpau.cat
authors: María J
authors: MJ
authors: Portella
authors: Joaquín
authors: J
authors: Soler
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Tejero
authors: Judith
authors: J
authors: Barrachina
authors: Judith
authors: J
authors: Barrachina
authors: Thais
authors: T
authors: Tiana
authors: Juan C
authors: JC
authors: Pascual
authors: Enrique
authors: E
authors: Alvarez
authors: Víctor
authors: V
authors: Pérez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes; D057190:Stroop Test; D013997:Time Factors