Characterizing emotional dysfunction in borderline personality, major depression, and their co-occurrence.
This research aimed to characterize patterns of emotional reactivity and dysregulation in borderline personality, depression, and their co-occurrence. In study 1, 488 young adult women from the community were categorized into four groups based on self-reported major depressive disorder (MDD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms (Low BPD/Low MDD; Low BPD/High MDD; High BPD/Low MDD; High BPD/High MDD). Immediate and prolonged subjective emotional reactivity to a laboratory stressor were assessed, and participants completed self-report and behavioral measures of emotion dysregulation. Study 2 extended these findings, examining emotional reactivity and dysregulation in a clinical population of 176 substance dependent patients with diagnoses of BPD and MDD and including a biological index of emotional reactivity. Results revealed greater prolonged fear reactivity in the High BPD/High MDD (vs. Low BPD/Low MDD) group in study 1, and greater prolonged anxiety and negative affect reactivity in both High BPD groups (vs. Low BPD/Low MDD and Low BPD/High MDD groups) in study 2 (but no differences in cortisol reactivity). Results also demonstrated greater subjective (but not behavioral) emotion dysregulation in the High BPD/High MDD (vs. Low BPD/Low MDD) group in study 1 and both High BPD groups (vs. both Low BPD groups) in study 2. Finally, the High BPD/High MDD group reported greater difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors compared with all other groups in study 1 and the Low BPD groups in study 2. Findings suggest that BPD pathology (but not MDD pathology alone) is characterized by greater prolonged emotional (especially anxiety/fear-related) reactivity and heightened emotion dysregulation.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
Katherine L
KL
Dixon-Gordon
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Nicole H
NH
Weiss
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA.
Matthew T
MT
Tull
Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
David
D
DiLillo
Department of Psychology, Miami University, Oxford, OH, USA.
Terri
T
Messman-Moore
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA. Electronic address: KLGratz@aol.com.
Kim L
KL
Gratz
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
D006854:Hydrocortisone