Momentary symptoms of borderline personality disorder as a product of trait personality and social context.

Abstract

Past studies identify Five Factor Model (FFM) domains that are characteristic of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), including those associated with specific BPD symptoms, at a between-person level. The present study replicated these between-person associations and extended past research by assessing whether the FFM explains within-person variance in the manifestation of momentary BPD symptoms in the presence or absence of close social contact (CSC). We measured CSC and the BPD core symptoms negative affectivity, impulsivity, and interpersonal problems in 74 BPD patients and in a clinical control group of 40 depressed patients over the course of 28 days, six times a day. The FFM domains showed specificity in predicting momentary BPD symptoms and interacted with CSC in doing so. In particular, for BPD individuals only, momentary impulsivity and interpersonal problems were associated with higher Neuroticism and Extraversion and lower Agreeableness, and these associations were especially strong in situations involving CSC. Negative affectivity was predicted by Neuroticism for both groups of individuals, and this association was generally unaffected by CSC. Overall, experiencing CSC was positively associated with momentary BPD symptoms. Thus, both the FFM and CSC were associated with BPD patients’ experience of symptoms in everyday life. Furthermore, specific FFM trait domains were particularly impactful in contexts where BPD symptoms are more likely to be manifested, providing further evidence that person-by-situation interactions are important for understanding BPD symptoms in the moment.

Mechanisms of Change in Treatments of Personality Disorders: Introduction to the Special Section

“…This is consistent with the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative (Insel & Gogtay, 2014) In addition to such integrative experimental designs assessing the mechanisms of change in treatments, we would like to underline that the phenomenon of study -the gem that explains the effect of treatment -may be elusive and may fluctuate on a moment-by-moment, minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, basis. Ecological momentary assessment may help to capture the short-term fluctuations when measuring problems associated with PDs (Hepp, Carpenter, Lane, & Trull, 2016;Trull & Ebner-Priemer, 2013). The latter methodology helps to disentangle trait and state contributions, and their interaction, to the emergence and evolution of PDs (Hepp et al, 2016) and may be a promising avenue to assess mechanisms of change.…”

“…Ecological momentary assessment may help to capture the short-term fluctuations when measuring problems associated with PDs (Hepp, Carpenter, Lane, & Trull, 2016;Trull & Ebner-Priemer, 2013). The latter methodology helps to disentangle trait and state contributions, and their interaction, to the emergence and evolution of PDs (Hepp et al, 2016) and may be a promising avenue to assess mechanisms of change.…”

Positive Affect Is Associated With Decreased Symptom Severity in the Daily Lives of Individuals With Borderline Personality Disorder

“…A sixth limitation pertains to the lack of information regarding the context in which the changes in BPD symptom severity occurred beyond the effects of NA and PA, as well as inclusion of potential moderators. We know from previous research that stressful situational events, for example, interpersonal rejection cues, are associated with BPD severity, including heightened NA and quarrelsome behavior (Hepp, Carpenter, Lane, & Trull, 2016;Hepp et al, 2017;Sadikaj, Moskowitz, Russell, Zuroff, & Paris, 2013). In addition, the literature also points toward a number of potential moderating variables for BPD severity, including, for example, coping ability (Chaudhury et al, 2017;Jarnecke et al, 2017) and self-concept clarity (Scala et al, 2018).…”

Interpersonal Problems and Negative Affect in Borderline Personality and Depressive Disorders in Daily Life

“…Only one previous publication using this sample included the interpersonal problem variables (Hepp et al, in press), linking these to the personality dimensions of the Five Factor Model and the situational variable close social contact. There is no overlap between the analyses we report in Hepp et al (in press) and in the present paper. The other published articles using this dataset did not include the interpersonal variables; therefore the analyses we report herein are entirely novel.…”