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Emotion processing in borderline personality disorders
Ann R Bland1, Carol A Williams, Kathleen Scharer
1University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA.
Issues in Mental Health Nursing
|September 17, 2004
Summary
Women with Borderline Personality Disorder showed differences in recognizing facial affect, particularly negative emotions. Affective intensity may play a role in these recognition challenges.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a complex mental health condition.
- Difficulties in emotional processing are a hallmark of BPD.
- Accurate recognition of facial affect is crucial for social interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between facial affect recognition and affective intensity in women with BPD.
- To compare affect recognition abilities between women with BPD and healthy controls.
- To explore the specific emotions that may contribute to recognition differences.
Main Methods:
- Convenience sampling recruited 35 women with BPD and 35 healthy controls.
- Participants completed the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA) test.
- The Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) was used to assess emotional intensity.
Main Results:
- Women with BPD demonstrated significant differences in recognizing facial affect compared to controls.
- Statistical significance was primarily driven by difficulties with specific negative emotions.
- Affective intensity measures were explored in relation to recognition abilities.
Conclusions:
- Impaired facial affect recognition, especially for negative emotions, is evident in women with BPD.
- These findings have implications for understanding social cognition in BPD.
- Further research is needed to explore the clinical implications of these emotional processing deficits.