TY - JOUR
T1 - A contingency-oriented approach to understanding borderline personality disorder
T2 - Situational triggers and symptoms
AU - Miskewicz, Kelly
AU - Fleeson, William
AU - Arnold, Elizabeth Mayfield
AU - Law, Mary Kate
AU - Mneimne, Malek
AU - Michael Furr, R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Guilford Press.
PY - 2015/8/1
Y1 - 2015/8/1
N2 - This article tested a contingency-oriented perspective to examine the dynamic relationships between in-the-moment borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom events and in-the-moment triggers. An experience sampling study with 282 adults, including 77 participants with BPD, obtained reports of situational triggers and BPD symptom events five times daily for 2 weeks. Triggers included being rejected, betrayed, abandoned, offended, and disappointed; having one’s self-concept threatened; being in a boring situation; and being alone. BPD was associated with increased situational triggers. Multilevel models revealed significant within-person associations between situational triggers and BPD symptoms for the average participant in the study, with significant individual variance in the strength and direction of trigger-symptom contingencies. Most trigger-symptom contingencies were stronger for individuals with greater borderline symptomatology, suggesting that triggers are meaningfully related to BPD. These findings highlight possible proximal mechanisms that maintain BPD and help explain the course of a disorder often described as chaotic and unpredictable.
AB - This article tested a contingency-oriented perspective to examine the dynamic relationships between in-the-moment borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom events and in-the-moment triggers. An experience sampling study with 282 adults, including 77 participants with BPD, obtained reports of situational triggers and BPD symptom events five times daily for 2 weeks. Triggers included being rejected, betrayed, abandoned, offended, and disappointed; having one’s self-concept threatened; being in a boring situation; and being alone. BPD was associated with increased situational triggers. Multilevel models revealed significant within-person associations between situational triggers and BPD symptoms for the average participant in the study, with significant individual variance in the strength and direction of trigger-symptom contingencies. Most trigger-symptom contingencies were stronger for individuals with greater borderline symptomatology, suggesting that triggers are meaningfully related to BPD. These findings highlight possible proximal mechanisms that maintain BPD and help explain the course of a disorder often described as chaotic and unpredictable.
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U2 - 10.1521/pedi.2015.29.4.486
DO - 10.1521/pedi.2015.29.4.486
M3 - Article
C2 - 26200848
AN - SCOPUS:84939197066
SN - 0885-579X
VL - 29
SP - 486
EP - 502
JO - Journal of Personality Disorders
JF - Journal of Personality Disorders
IS - 4
ER -