EMOTION DYSREGULATION AS A CORE FEATURE OF BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a debilitating mental illness that affects approximately 1–2 % of the general population. Researchers have increasingly come to view emotion dysregulation as a core feature of BPD. The present study examines the relationship between BPD symptomatology and emotion dysregulation using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) in two college samples. BPD symp-toms were assessed by self-report (MSI-BPD) in sample 1 and by semi-structured interview (SIDP-IV) in sample 2. Results suggest that emo-tion dysregulation accounts for unique variance in BPD even after controlling for traditional indicators of negative emotionality, including depression, anxiety, and negative affect. Findings support theories re-garding the role of emotion dysregulation in BPD and provide directions for future research. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a debilitating mental illness char-acterized by intense negative emotions, identity confusion, impulsive be-haviors, and interpersonal instability. Epidemiological studies indicate that BPD affects about 1–2 % of the general population with higher rates, between 10 and 20%, in patient populations (Torgersen, Kringlen, & Cramer, 2001; Widiger & Weissman, 1991). In addition to being impaired in domains of affective, behavioral, and interpersonal functioning (Linehan, 1993), around 10 % of BPD patients attempt suicide, a rate 50 times higher than the general population (American Psychiatric Association, 2001). Due to its destructive course and high rates of suicidality, patients with BPD require more treatment services than other disordered groups (Bender et al., 2001; Zanarini, Frankenburg, Khera, & Bleichmar, 2001). Many criteria for BPD in the DSM-IV reflect abnormalities in emotional functioning. For example, affective instability, intense anger, and chroni