Publication
Title
Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder : a daily life study
Author
Abstract
Background: Emotional instability, consisting of patterns of strong emotional changes over time, has consistently been demonstrated in daily life of patients with a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, little empirical work has examined emotional changes that occur specifically in response to emotional triggers in daily life, so-called emotional reactivity. The goal of this study was to examine emotional reactivity in response to general emotional appraisals (i.e. goal congruence or valence, goal relevance or importance, and emotion-focused coping potential) and BPD-specific evaluations (trust and disappointment in self and others) in daily life of inpatients with BPD. Methods: Thirty inpatients with BPD and 28 healthy controls participated in an experience sampling study and repeatedly rated the intensity of their current emotions, emotional appraisals, and evaluations of trust and disappointment in self and others. Results: Results showed that the BPD group exhibited stronger emotional reactivity in terms of negative affect than healthy controls, however only in response to disappointment in someone else. BPD patients also showed weaker reactivity in positive affect in response to the appraised importance of a situation; the more a situation was appraised as important, the higher the subsequent positive affect for healthy controls only, not the patient group. Conclusions: These findings show that appraisals can trigger strong emotional reactions in BPD patients, and suggest that altered emotional reactivity might be a potential underlying process of emotional instability in the daily life.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation / National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder; Dachverband Dialektisch Behaviorale Therapie. - 2014, currens
Publication
2018
ISSN
2051-6673
DOI
10.1186/S40479-018-0095-7
Volume/pages
5 (2018) , 13 p.
Article Reference
UNSP 18
ISI
000453096000001
Pubmed ID
30459949
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 18.01.2019
Last edited 02.10.2024
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