title: Emotion Dysregulation and Trait Anger Sequentially Mediate the Association Between Borderline Personality Disorder and Aggression.
abstract: Emotion dysregulation and trait anger are seen as central aspects of aggression in borderline personality disorder (BPD); their interplay in aggression of BPD, however, remains unclear. Using a cross-sectional design, we conducted a mediation analysis in a well-characterized sample of female and male BPD patients (n = 95). We found that emotion dysregulation and trait anger sequentially mediate the association between BPD and aggression. In accordance with major theories of BPD, emotion dysregulation may thus constitute an underlying factor that gives rise to anger and in turn to aggression in BPD. These findings may help to develop mechanism-based anti-aggressive interventions for patients with BPD, which should target emotion dysregulation and anger proneness.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Falk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mancke
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Herpertz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim/Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kleindienst
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bertsch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000786:Anger; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult