Examining Negativity Biases in Facial Emotion Reactions in Young Persons First Presenting with Borderline Personality...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with biosocial vulnerabilities and emotional regulation difficulties.
• A negativity bias in emotion perception and expression is observed in adults with BPD.
• It remains unclear if this negativity bias is present in young individuals with early-stage BPD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate emotional reactivity in young individuals presenting with early-stage BPD.
• To compare facial emotional responses in first-presentation BPD youth versus healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Facial electromyography (fEMG) assessed muscle activity for positive and negative expressions.
• Participants (aged 15-25) viewed happy, angry, and neutral facial expressions.
• Study included youth with three or more BPD features (n=32) and age-matched healthy controls (n=46).

Main Results:

• No significant difference in negative facial emotional reactivity between BPD and control groups.
• A trend suggested a slower positive emotional response to happy faces in the BPD group.
• Overall positive emotional reactivity did not differ significantly between groups.

Conclusions:

• Negativity bias in emotional expression is not evident in young individuals with first-presentation BPD.
• A potential delay in positive affective responses to happy stimuli may indicate early emotional processing differences.
• Further longitudinal research is needed to understand the development of negativity bias in BPD.