An Investigation into the Nature of Emotional Dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

Dysregulation of the emotional domain is considered the core disorder in borderline personality disorder (BPD), and a greater intensity of emotional reaction is seen as central to this dysregulation. Empirical data has shown that people with BPD experience negative emotions more intensely than controls, however there is currently little support for the concept of dysregulation across the range of emotional experience. In this study the emotional intensity of negative and positive emotion was compared between a BPD sample (n=24) and non-clinical control group (n=24). Participants completed self-report questionnaires to assess general intensity of emotional experience and rated their reactions to emotionally salient visual stimuli. The results indicated a higher intensity of emotional experience in the BPD sample; however this effect was no longer significant when anxiety was controlled for. Self-reported anxiety about overwhelming emotional reactions was significantly higher in the BPD sample and this difference remained when a measure of current anxiety was controlled for. There was no difference between groups in the rating of visual stimuli for both negative and positive salience. The implications of the results are discussed with reference to the wider literature.