Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study
Abstract Background Emotional instability, consisting of patterns of strong emotional changes over time, has consistently been demonstrated in daily life of patients with a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, little empirical work has examined emotional changes that occur specifically in res...
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doaj-2e937838daaa4ef29ed3e60709338c332020-11-25T02:12:18ZengBMCBorderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation2051-66732018-11-015111310.1186/s40479-018-0095-7Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life studyMarlies Houben0Laurence Claes1Ellen Sleuwaegen2Ann Berens3Kristof Vansteelandt4Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU LeuvenFaculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU LeuvenFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of AntwerpUniversity Department of Psychiatry, Campus Psychiatric Hospital DuffelKU Leuven, University Psychiatric Center KU LeuvenAbstract Background Emotional instability, consisting of patterns of strong emotional changes over time, has consistently been demonstrated in daily life of patients with a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, little empirical work has examined emotional changes that occur specifically in response to emotional triggers in daily life, so-called emotional reactivity. The goal of this study was to examine emotional reactivity in response to general emotional appraisals (i.e. goal congruence or valence, goal relevance or importance, and emotion-focused coping potential) and BPD-specific evaluations (trust and disappointment in self and others) in daily life of inpatients with BPD. Methods Thirty inpatients with BPD and 28 healthy controls participated in an experience sampling study and repeatedly rated the intensity of their current emotions, emotional appraisals, and evaluations of trust and disappointment in self and others. Results Results showed that the BPD group exhibited stronger emotional reactivity in terms of negative affect than healthy controls, however only in response to disappointment in someone else. BPD patients also showed weaker reactivity in positive affect in response to the appraised importance of a situation; the more a situation was appraised as important, the higher the subsequent positive affect for healthy controls only, not the patient group. Conclusions These findings show that appraisals can trigger strong emotional reactions in BPD patients, and suggest that altered emotional reactivity might be a potential underlying process of emotional instability in the daily life.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40479-018-0095-7Borderline personality disorderEmotional reactivityEmotional appraisalsTrust and disappointment in self and othersDaily life |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Marlies Houben Laurence Claes Ellen Sleuwaegen Ann Berens Kristof Vansteelandt |
spellingShingle |
Marlies Houben Laurence Claes Ellen Sleuwaegen Ann Berens Kristof Vansteelandt Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation Borderline personality disorder Emotional reactivity Emotional appraisals Trust and disappointment in self and others Daily life |
author_facet |
Marlies Houben Laurence Claes Ellen Sleuwaegen Ann Berens Kristof Vansteelandt |
author_sort |
Marlies Houben |
title |
Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study |
title_short |
Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study |
title_full |
Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study |
title_fullStr |
Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study |
title_sort |
emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation |
issn |
2051-6673 |
publishDate |
2018-11-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Emotional instability, consisting of patterns of strong emotional changes over time, has consistently been demonstrated in daily life of patients with a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, little empirical work has examined emotional changes that occur specifically in response to emotional triggers in daily life, so-called emotional reactivity. The goal of this study was to examine emotional reactivity in response to general emotional appraisals (i.e. goal congruence or valence, goal relevance or importance, and emotion-focused coping potential) and BPD-specific evaluations (trust and disappointment in self and others) in daily life of inpatients with BPD. Methods Thirty inpatients with BPD and 28 healthy controls participated in an experience sampling study and repeatedly rated the intensity of their current emotions, emotional appraisals, and evaluations of trust and disappointment in self and others. Results Results showed that the BPD group exhibited stronger emotional reactivity in terms of negative affect than healthy controls, however only in response to disappointment in someone else. BPD patients also showed weaker reactivity in positive affect in response to the appraised importance of a situation; the more a situation was appraised as important, the higher the subsequent positive affect for healthy controls only, not the patient group. Conclusions These findings show that appraisals can trigger strong emotional reactions in BPD patients, and suggest that altered emotional reactivity might be a potential underlying process of emotional instability in the daily life. |
topic |
Borderline personality disorder Emotional reactivity Emotional appraisals Trust and disappointment in self and others Daily life |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40479-018-0095-7 |
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