(PS8-D80) I Don’t Believe You: Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms and Self-invalidation Interact to Predict Negative Affect in Response to Social Inclusion

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by a pervasive pattern of instability in emotion, interpersonal relationships, self-validation, and identity. Self-invalidation refers to the tendency to dismiss or invalidate one’s own thoughts, emotions, and experiences, which is a common feature of BPD. Identity disturbance, another core feature of BPD, involves dysfunction in how one understands and defines themselves. Self-understanding, however, is frequently enmeshed with how others define or validate a person or how one perceives others to define or validate them. Therefore, it is important to understand the relation between validation (self- and social validation) and borderline identity disturbance. The present study sought to investigate how borderline identity disturbance and high levels of self-invalidation may influence the experience of social rejection among individuals with high levels of BPD symptoms in an online group chat setting.

A sample of 82 undergraduate students completed measures of overall BPD symptoms (PAI-BOR), borderline identity disturbance (Borderline Identity Disturbance Self-Report; BIDS), self-validation (Self-Validation and Self-Invalidation Questionnaire; SVSI-Q), and baseline mood state (PANAS-X). Next, participants engaged in an online group chat task (Richmond et al., 2020) and were randomized to either a social rejection or a social inclusion condition. Participants then completed a follow-up questionnaire that asked about their mood state post-manipulation (PANAS-X). 

Moderated mediation analyses found that high levels of self-invalidation mediated the relation between BPD symptoms and negative affect, but only among participants who were socially included and had higher BIDS. Overall, results indicate that individuals high in BPD symptoms tended to self-invalidate. Self-invalidation, in turn, predicted higher negative affect among participants with average or higher borderline identity disturbance who were also socially included on the experimental task.

Findings from this study highlight that the relationship between social inclusion and affect may not be straightforward, particularly for individuals with high levels of self-invalidation and borderline identity disturbance. Clinical implications include the importance of assessing both self-invalidation and borderline identity disturbance when considering the potential benefits and risks of social inclusion interventions among individuals with BPD pathology. Social inclusion may not always lead to positive outcomes, and interventions targeting borderline identity disturbance may be beneficial prior to or alongside social inclusion interventions. These findings may also extend to broader contexts such as social media platforms wherein social inclusion is often promoted to improve mental health. Overall, results underscore the importance of taking a nuanced and individualized approach with social inclusion interventions and considering treatment outcomes among individuals presenting with BPD features.