Within- and Between-Persons Effects of Self-Esteem and Affective State as Antecedents and Consequences of Dysfunctional Behaviors in the Everyday Lives of Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder. (May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Santangelo, Philip S.; Holtmann, Jana; Hosoya, Georg; Bohus, Martin; Kockler, Tobias D.; Koudela-Hamila, Susanne; Eid, Michael; Ebner-Priemer, Ulrich W.
• Is Part Of: Clinical psychological science. Volume 8:Number 3(2020)
• Page Start: 428
• Page End: 449
• Publication Date: 2020-05
• Subjects: borderline personality disorder -- dysfunctional behavior -- e-diary -- benefits-and-barriers model -- emotion-regulation model -- dynamic structural equation modeling; Clinical psychology -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1177/2167702620901724
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2167-7026

Abstract

Dysfunctional behaviors are conceptualized as maladaptive affective coping attempts in borderline personality disorder (BPD). The recent benefits-and-barriers model extended the affective function assumption by adding self-esteem as a barrier to engaging in dysfunctional behaviors. Patients with BPD ( N = 119) carried e-diaries to report their current self-esteem, emotional valence, tense arousal, and whether they engaged in dysfunctional behaviors 12 times a day for 4 days. Dynamic structural equation modeling revealed that on the within-person level, high momentary negative affect predicted dysfunctional behaviors, and on the between-person level, low trait self-esteem predicted dysfunctional behaviors. We also found an association between engaging in dysfunctional behaviors and momentary self-esteem and trait levels of valence and tense arousal. Moreover, our results indicate a deterioration of, rather than relief from, negative affective state after dysfunctional behaviors. These findings highlight the importance of emotion-regulation skills and reestablishing a positive self-view as important treatment targets to reduce dysfunctional behaviors in BPD.