title: Attentional Bias for Emotional Stimuli in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In borderline personality disorder (BPD), attentional bias (AB) to emotional stimuli may be a core component in disorder pathogenesis and maintenance.
  
  
  METHODS
  11 emotional Stroop task (EST) studies with 244 BPD patients, 255 nonpatients (NPs) and 95 clinical controls and 4 visual dot-probe task (VDPT) studies with 151 BPD patients or subjects with BPD features and 62 NPs were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted two separate meta-analyses for AB in BPD. One meta-analysis focused on the EST for generally negative and BPD-specific/personally relevant negative words. The other meta-analysis concentrated on the VDPT for negative and positive facial stimuli.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is evidence for an AB towards generally negative emotional words compared to NPs (standardized mean difference, SMD = 0.311) and to other psychiatric disorders (SMD = 0.374) in the EST studies. Regarding BPD-specific/personally relevant negative words, BPD patients reveal an even stronger AB than NPs (SMD = 0.454). The VDPT studies indicate a tendency towards an AB to positive facial stimuli but not negative stimuli in BPD patients compared to NPs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings rather reflect an AB in BPD to generally negative and BPD-specific/personally relevant negative words rather than an AB in BPD towards facial stimuli, and/or a biased allocation of covert attentional resources to negative emotional stimuli in BPD and not a bias in focus of visual attention. Further research regarding the role of childhood traumatization and comorbid anxiety disorders may improve the understanding of these underlying processes.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Gitta A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Gregor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Domes
authors.forename: Arnoud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arntz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000070379:Attentional Bias; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008606:Mental Processes; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D057190:Stroop Test