Abstract
BackgroundContemporary theorists have suggested that impulsivity and emotion dysregulation are two of the core features of BPD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation in adolescence.Methods1,157 nonclinical adolescents were administered the Borderline Personality Inventory, following which three groups of adolescents with high (high–BPD; n = 29), average (average-BPD; n = 31), and low (low–BPD; n = 31) levels of BPD features were selected. Participants in these three groups were administered the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS-P) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS).ResultsUPPS-P Negative and Positive Urgency scales, as well as the DERS total score, significantly discriminated high-BPD adolescents from both other groups. The differences in UPPS-P Negative and Positive Urgency between high-BPD adolescents and both control groups remained significant when partialing out the variance associated with the DERS; However, when partialing out the variance associated with Positive and Negative Urgency, high-BPD adolescents reported significantly higher DERS scores than only the low-BPD control group (and not the average-BPD group). Finally, although the differences in Positive Urgency between high-BPD adolescents and both control groups remained significant when partialing out the variance associated with Negative Urgency, the between group differences in Negative Urgency did not remain significant when controlling for the variance associated with Positive Urgency.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the relevance of both emotion dysregulation and two dimensions of impulsivity (negative and positive urgency) to BPD features in adolescence, providing evidence for a unique association between BPD features and Positive Urgency in particular. These findings add to the literature in this area, suggesting that the tendency to act rashly in the context of intense positive affect may have unique relevance to BPD features in adolescence.
Highlights
Contemporary theorists have suggested that impulsivity and emotion dysregulation are two of the core features of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Empirical research indicates that emotion dysregulation and impulsivity are among the BPD features that are most stable over time [7,17], and that emerge as the best predictors of selfharm, identity, and interpersonal problems at follow-up [18] and overall BPD psychopathology over time [7,17]
The results of this study suggest the relevance of both of these factors to BPD, the authors did not directly test if the association between impulsivity and BPD features was explained by emotion dysregulation, or if it remained significant when accounting for the influence of emotion dysregulation
Summary
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) features, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation in adolescence. There appears to be a subgroup of severely affected adolescents for whom the diagnosis of BPD remains stable over time, as well as a less severe subgroup that moves in and out of the diagnosis [14,15]. One implication of these findings is that BPD pathology in adolescents may be more adequately captured by a dimensional/continuous rather than a categorical approach, as the former may better account for the developmental variability and heterogeneity found among adolescents [15]. Empirical research indicates that emotion dysregulation and impulsivity are among the BPD features that are most stable over time [7,17], and that emerge as the best predictors of selfharm, identity, and interpersonal problems at follow-up [18] and overall BPD psychopathology over time [7,17]
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