Impulsivity, Rejection Sensitivity, and Reactions to Stressors in Borderline Personality Disorder.
This research investigated baseline impulsivity, rejection sensitivity, and reactions to stressors in individuals with borderline personality disorder compared to healthy individuals and those with avoidant personality disorder. The borderline group showed greater impulsivity than the avoidant and healthy groups both in a delay-discounting task with real monetary rewards and in self-reported reactions to stressors; moreover, these findings could not be explained by co-occurring substance use disorders. Distress reactions to stressors were equally elevated in both personality disorder groups (relative to the healthy group). The borderline and avoidant groups also reported more maladaptive reactions to a stressor of an interpersonal vs. non-interpersonal nature, whereas the healthy group did not. Finally, self-reported impulsive reactions to stressors were associated with baseline impulsivity in the delay-discounting task, and greater self-reported reactivity to interpersonal than non-interpersonal stressors was associated with rejection sensitivity. This research highlights distinct vulnerabilities contributing to impulsive behavior in borderline personality disorder.
Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA.
Kathy R
KR
Berenson
Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA.
Wesley Ellen
WE
Gregory
Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Erin
E
Glaser
Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Aliza
A
Romirowsky
Department of Psychology, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY; Department of Psychology and Gonda Multidisciplinary Neuroscience Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Eshkol
E
Rafaeli
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Xiao
X
Yang
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY.
Geraldine
G
Downey