title: Emotion regulation choice in female patients with borderline personality disorder: Findings from self-reports and experimental measures.
abstract: Emotion dysregulation is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). So far, many studies have tested the consequences of the implementation of certain emotion regulation (ER) strategies, but there have been no investigations about ER choices in BPD. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate habitual ER choices by self-report questionnaires and experimentally by testing the preference to select between distraction and reappraisal when facing different emotional intensities (high vs. low) and contents (borderline-specific vs. unspecific negative) in patients with BPD (n=24) compared with clinical controls (patients with major depression, n=19) and a healthy control group (n=32). Additionally, heart rate (HR) responses were continuously assessed. Main results revealed that both patient groups showed maladaptive self-reported ER choice profiles compared with HC. We found, however, no differences between the groups in the choice of distraction and reappraisal on the behavioral level and in HR responses. In BPD, within-group analyses revealed a positive correlation between symptom severity and the preference for distraction under high-intensity borderline-specific stimuli. Our findings provide preliminary evidence of ER choices in BPD and show the robustness of the choice effect in patients with affective disorders.
authors.affiliation: University of Heidelberg, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: christina.sauer@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauer
authors.affiliation: Tel Aviv University, School of Psychological Science, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: sheppes@post.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Gal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sheppes
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Graz, Institute of Physiology, Harrachgasse 21, 8010 Graz, Austria. Electronic address: helmut.lackner@medunigraz.at.
authors.forename: Helmut Karl
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lackner
authors.affiliation: Goethe University Frankfurt, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Electronic address: e.arens@psych.uni-frankfurt.de.
authors.forename: Elisabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Arens
authors.affiliation: Tel Aviv University, School of Education and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: ricardo@tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tarrasch
authors.affiliation: University of Heidelberg, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barnow
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: BPD; Choice; Depressive disorder; Distraction; Emotion regulation; Heart rate; Reappraisal