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IntroductionThe aim of the present study was (1) to validate the method of guilt-induction by means of a written auto-biographical essay and (2) to test whether experimental pain is apt to alleviate the mental burden of guilt, a concept receiving support from both empirical research and clinical observation.MethodsThree independent groups of healthy male participants were recruited. Group allocation was not randomized but within group pain/sham administration was counterbalanced over the two test-days. Groups were tested in the following consecutive order: Group A: guilt induction, heat-pain/sham, N = 59; Group B: guilt induction, cold-pressure-pain/sham, N = 43; Group C: emotionally neutral induction, heat-pain/sham, N = 39. Guilt was induced on both test-days in group A and B before pain/sham administration. Visual analog scale (VAS) guilt ratings immediately after pain/sham stimulation served as the primary outcome. In a control group C the identical heat-pain experiment was performed like in group A but a neutral emotional state was induced.ResultsA consistently strong overall effect of guilt-induction (heat-pain: p < 0.001, effect size r = 0.71; CPT-pain p < 0.001, r = 0.67) was found when compared to the control-condition (p = 0.25, r = 0.08). As expected, heat- and cold-pressure-stimuli were highly painful in all groups (p < 0.0001, r = 0.89). However, previous research supporting the hypothesis that pain is apt to reduce guilt was not replicated.ConclusionAlthough guilt-induction was highly effective on both test-days no impact of pain on behavioral guilt-ratings in healthy individuals could be identified. Guilt induction per se did not depend on the order of testing. The result questions previous experimental work on the impact of pain on moral emotions.

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Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been associated with a reduced functional flexibility of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), indexed by decreased vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV). Employing a comprehensive Section II-based assessment approach and a partial Section III-based assessment approach (including Criterion A of the alternative model of personality disorders [AMPD]), the present study investigates how different conceptualizations of personality disorders (PDs) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th edition relate to ANS function. Using the BPD section of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II, a Section IIbased assessment approach) and the Semistructured Interview for Personality Functioning DSM-5 (STiP-5.1, a Section III-based assessment approach), we conducted linear regression analyses to examine how categorical (BPD diagnosis) and dimensional (severity and domain) measures of PD are associated with ANS activity among adolescent psychiatric patients (N = 147, M age = 15.25 years). Replicating earlier findings, analyses revealed a statistically significant positive association between the SCID-II measures of BPD and heart rate (HR), b = 0.43, t(59) = 3.57, p = .001, f = .57, as well as a statistically significant negative association between the SCID-II measures of BPD and vmHRV, b = −0.34, t(59) = −2.74, p = .008, f = .47. Neither the STiP-5.1 total score nor the subscales of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) were associated with HR or vmHRV. The present findings indicate that the SCID-II may capture features of PD that are more informative of variance in physiological function than the STiP-5.1.