Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by high levels of arousal and perceived rejection by others. The temporal relation between these constructs, however, remains largely unclear. Based on predictions derived from the dynamic affect model and the rejection sensitivity model, we expected increases in arousal and perceived rejection to predict subsequent increases in perceived rejection and arousal, respectively. To investigate this topic, we assessed current self-reported affective arousal and perceived rejection in patients with BPD (n = 42), patients with depressive disorders (DDs; n = 43), and healthy controls (HCs; n = 40) for 52 times within 13 hr (ca. every 15 min). In line with previous studies, dynamic structural equation model results indicate significantly higher trait levels of arousal and perceived rejection in patients with BPD compared with participants in the DD and HC groups. In addition, we found substantial autoregressive and cross-lagged effects for arousal and perceived rejection. Other than expected, the magnitude of these effects did not significantly differ across diagnostic groups. Our findings suggest close temporal relations between arousal and perceived rejection. In patients with BPD, these effects unfold against the background of substantially elevated trait levels of arousal and perceived rejection. Future experience sampling studies should provide additional context information (e.g., through monitoring rejection events) to investigate how patients with BPD perceive rejection in everyday life and how this affects subsequent levels of arousal.
Background: Instability in self-esteem and instability in affect are core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). For decades, researchers and theorists have been interested in the temporal dynamics between these constructs. Some hypothesize that changes in affective states should precede changes in self-esteem (Linehan, 1993), while others suggest that changes in self-esteem should precede changes in affective states (Kernberg, 1975). Methods: In this study, we investigated the temporal relations between negative affective arousal states and current self-esteem in daily life. Patients with BPD (n = 42) or depressive disorders (DD; n = 40), and non-clinical controls (NCC; n = 40) were assessed every 15 min for 13 hours. Results: As expected, dynamic structural equation modeling showed higher levels of average daily negative affective arousal and lower levels of average daily self-esteem in the BPD group compared with the NCC group, and scores in the DD group were in-between the BPD and the NCC groups. In line with predictions based on Linehan`s (1993) model of affective dysregulation in BPD, negative affective arousal (t) and subsequent self-esteem (t+1) were significantly linked only in the BPD group, implying that higher negative affective arousal is followed by lower current self-esteem in the next measurement (ca. 15 min later). Importantly, self-esteem (t) and subsequent negative affective arousal (t+1) were not significantly related (Kernberg, 1975). Conclusions:Our findings suggest close dynamic temporal relations between affective instability and self-esteem instability in BPD, which highlights the importance of providing patients with means to effectively modulate high negative affective arousal states.
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