Relationships among maladaptive cognitive content, dysfunctional cognitive processes, and borderline personality...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychopathology

Background:

• Maladaptive cognitive content (e.g., dysfunctional attitudes, negative automatic thoughts) and cognitive processes (e.g., rumination, thought suppression) are linked to emotional distress and psychological difficulties.
• While associations between cognitive factors and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are noted, research has predominantly focused on Axis I disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the incremental validity of cognitive content and processes in predicting BPD symptom severity.
• To control for the influence of trait negative affect in the prediction models.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 85 undergraduate students, many with elevated BPD features, completed assessments.
• Regression analyses were employed to determine the predictive power of cognitive variables on BPD symptom severity, after accounting for trait negative affect.

Main Results:

• Nearly all assessed cognitive variables and trait negative affect were significantly correlated with BPD features.
• Final regression models indicated that rumination and thought suppression were stronger independent predictors of BPD features compared to automatic thoughts, dysfunctional attitudes, and trait negative affect.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive processes, specifically rumination and thought suppression, play a significant role in predicting BPD symptom severity.
• These findings highlight the potential therapeutic importance of targeting rumination and thought suppression in interventions for BPD.