Dissociative Experiences, Borderline Personality Disorder Features, and Childhood Trauma: Generating Hypotheses from Data-Driven Network Analysis in an International Sample.

Dissociation is a multifaceted phenomenon that occurs in various mental disorders, including borderline personality disorder (BPD), but also in non-clinical populations. Severity of childhood trauma (abuse, neglect) plays an important role in the development of dissociation and BPD. However, the complex interplay of different dissociative symptoms, BPD features, and self-reported childhood trauma experiences is not yet fully understood.

Differentiating between intrapsychic symptoms and behavioral expressions of borderline personality disorder in relation to childhood emotional maltreatment and emotion dysregulation: an exploratory investigation.

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder, characterized by pronounced instability in emotions, self-image, and interpersonal relationships. Experiences of childhood maltreatment are among the risk factors for BPD. While self-damaging and aggressive acts often occur, not every person with the disorder shows markedly dysregulated behaviour.

Psychological Factors Linked to Intimate Partner Violence and Childhood Maltreatment: On Dissociation as a Possible Bridge Symptom.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious health concern, occurring worldwide in various forms and settings. Over the past years, multiple sources reported an increase of IPV globally, partly related to COVID-19 restrictions. Childhood maltreatment enhances the risk of IPV, possibly via alterations in emotion regulation, attachment, maladaptive core beliefs, dissociation, and psychopathological symptoms.

Predictors of complex PTSD: the role of trauma characteristics, dissociation, and comorbid psychopathology.

Background: Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) has previously been associated with earlier trauma onset, repeated interpersonal traumatization, more dissociation, and more comorbid psychopathology. However, it is still debated if the afore-mentioned risk factors are related to CPTSD diagnosis or rather indicative of a more severe form of post-traumatic distress. The aim of this study was to compare patients with a CPTSD diagnosis to those with PTSD in trauma characteristics (onset, chronicity, interpersonal nature, familiarity with perpetrator), dissociation, and psychiatric comorbidities, while accounting for symptom severity.

On the interplay of borderline personality features, childhood trauma severity, attachment types, and social support.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have consistently been associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Still, it is not yet entirely understood if and how different types of ACE (emotional, physical, sexual abuse, neglect) relate to different BPD subdomains (affective instability, identity disturbance, negative relationships, self-harm). Insecure attachment and lower perceived social support are associated with both ACE and BPD and may therefore contribute to their relationship.

Severity of childhood maltreatment predicts reaction times and heart rate variability during an emotional working memory task in borderline personality disorder.

Unlabelled: Difficulties in emotion regulation are a core symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and often interfere with cognitive functions, such as working memory (WM). Traumatic childhood experiences, including severe maltreatment, can contribute to emotion dysregulation, possibly mediated by changes in high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). However, it is not yet entirely understood if HF-HRV alterations underlie impaired WM during emotional distraction in BPD and if this is related to traumatic childhood experiences and to comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Dissociation, trauma, and borderline personality disorder.

Dissociation is a complex phenomenon, which occurs in various clinical conditions, including dissociative disorders, (complex) post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD, PTSD), and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Traumatic stress is considered an important risk factor, while the etiology of dissociation is still debated. Next to traumatic experiences, temperamental and neurobiological vulnerabilities seem to contribute to the development of dissociation.

Borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental disorder with a high burden on patients, family members, and health-care systems. The condition was previously regarded as untreatable, but progress in understanding and management has resulted in earlier diagnosis and better treatment outcomes. A coherent syndrome of BPD typically onsets during adolescence (after age 12 years).

[What do we know about borderline personality disorder? Current aspects of etiology, diagnostics and treatment].

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPS) is considered as a severe mental disorder with a high burden for patients, family members and the healthcare system. Recent years have brought significant advances in understanding and treating BP, leading to an earlier diagnosis and better treatment outcomes.

Objective: This article outlines the current state of knowledge on the epidemiology, diagnostics, psychopathology and treatment of BPD and identifies open questions.

Trustworthiness appraisals of faces wearing a surgical mask during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany: An experimental study.

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the negative effects of wearing a mouth-nose cover (MNC) on interpersonal functioning have been discussed in public media but empirical studies on how wearing MNCs affect social judgements are sparse. In the present study, we investigated the effects of MNCs on trustworthiness appraisals, the influence of changes due to MNCs in evaluating joy, and the relationship between a social-cognitive appraisal bias and a participant's characteristics.

Methods: All participants (N = 165) judged the intensity of happiness and trustworthiness in calm facial stimuli presented with and without a surgical mask covering part of the face.

Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder: Recent Experimental, Neurobiological Studies, and Implications for Future Research and Treatment.

Purpose Of Review: The aim of this review article is to give an overview over recent experimental neurobiological research on dissociation in borderline personality disorder (BPD), in order to inform clinicians and to stimulate further research. First, we introduce basic definitions and models that conceptualize dissociation from a transdiagnostic perspective. Then, we discuss recent findings in BPD.

Linking experiences of child sexual abuse to adult sexual intimate partner violence: the role of borderline personality features, maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation, and dissociation.

Background: Child sexual abuse (CSA) has been linked to a higher risk of sexual re-victimization, including sexual intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim of this study was to investigate whether borderline personality disorder (BPD) features, dissociation, and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation mediate the link between self-reported CSA severity and sexual IPV. Specifically, we were interested in the unique effect of each mediator variable, when accounting for the effect of the other variables.

Stimulating research on childhood adversities, borderline personality disorder, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

Traumatic events of a long-lasting invasive, primarily interpersonal nature (e.g., childhood abuse, intimate partner violence) can have wide-ranging consequences across various life domains.

Do I trust you when you smile? Effects of sex and emotional expression on facial trustworthiness appraisal.

Background: Trust is a prerequisite for successful social relations. People tend to form a first impression of people's trustworthiness based on their facial appearance. The sex of the judging person and its congruency with the sex of the judged people influence these appraisals.

Latent classes of DSM-5 acute stress disorder symptoms in children after single-incident trauma: findings from an international data archive.

: After a potentially traumatic event (PTE), children often show symptoms of acute stress disorder (ASD), which may evolve into posttraumatic stress (PTS) disorder. A growing body of literature has employed latent class analysis (LCA) to disentangle the complex structure underlying PTS symptomatology, distinguishing between homogeneous subgroups based on PTS presentations. So far, little is known about subgroups or classes of ASD reactions in trauma-exposed children.

[Neural mechanisms of dissociation: implication for borderline personality disorder].

Dissociation is a prevalent symptom in borderline personality disorder (BPD), which can have detrimental effects on everyday functioning and treatment. Until now, little is known about the brain networks implicated in dissociation in BPD. Research on dissociative disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder found alterations in networks implicated in cognitive control and arousal modulation.

Self-reported impulsivity in women with borderline personality disorder: the role of childhood maltreatment severity and emotion regulation difficulties.

Background: Childhood maltreatment, such as severe emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and neglect, has been linked to impulse control problems and dysfunctional emotional coping. In borderline personality disorder (BPD), a history of childhood maltreatment may worsen difficulties in emotion regulation, which may in turn give rise to impulsive behaviours. The aim of this self-report study was to investigate associations between childhood maltreatment severity, emotion regulation difficulties, and impulsivity in women with BPD compared to healthy and clinical controls.

Childhood Maltreatment, Borderline Personality Features, and Coping as Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious mental and physical health concern worldwide. Although previous research suggests that childhood maltreatment increases the risk for IPV, the underlying psychological mechanisms of this relationship are not yet entirely understood. Borderline personality (BP) features may play an important role in the cycle of violence, being associated with interpersonal violence in both childhood and adult relationships.

Heart rate variability during a cognitive reappraisal task in female patients with borderline personality disorder: the role of comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociation.

Background: Emotion dysregulation is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), which often co-occurs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) have been linked to lower high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), a measure of autonomous nervous system functioning. However, previous research on vagally-mediated heart rate in BPD revealed heterogeneous findings and the effects of comorbid PTSD and dissociation on HF-HRV are not yet completely understood.

Current Understanding of the Neural Mechanisms of Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder.

Purpose Of Review: In this article, we aim to give an overview over recent neuroimaging research on dissociation in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Stress-related dissociation is highly prevalent in BPD, while so far only little is known about its neural underpinnings.

Recent Findings: Based on research in depersonalization and the dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder, it has been proposed that dissociation involves alterations in a cortico-limbic network.

Reduced amygdala reactivity and impaired working memory during dissociation in borderline personality disorder.

Affective hyper-reactivity and impaired cognitive control of emotional material are core features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). A high percentage of individuals with BPD experience stress-related dissociation, including emotional numbing and memory disruptions. So far little is known about how dissociation influences the neural processing of emotional material in the context of a working memory task in BPD.

Anger and aggression in borderline personality disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - does stress matter?

Background: The impact of stress on anger and aggression in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has not been thoroughly investigated. The goal of this study was to investigate different aspects of anger and aggression in patients with these disorders.

Methods: Twenty-nine unmedicated female BPD patients, 28 ADHD patients and 30 healthy controls (HC) completed self-reports measuring trait anger, aggression and emotion regulation capacities.