(PS8-C64) Momentary Positive Affect Fluctuation and Identity Disturbance: An Experimental Study Using a Novel Identity Self-focus Task

Linehan’s 1993 model of BPD suggests that identity disturbance (ID) associated with BPD is driven by difficulties with emotions and overreliance on others for aid with emotions. This is compounded by an unhelpful cognitive process in which one’s sense of self-worth relies on others (Linehan, 1993). Research on emotionality associated with ID has overwhelmingly focused on negative emotions, though existing evidence suggests deficits in positive emotion experience. Further though ID is a trans-diagnostic concept, few experimental manipulations of identity disturbance exist, limiting our ability to understand its implications for psychosocial functioning. This project sought to examine relations between ID and momentary fluctuations in positive affect using a novel manipulation of identity disturbance.

Students (n=97) who represented a range of ID were recruited. Participants received a positive mood induction, followed by the experimental manipulation—an adaptation of the rumination self-focus task (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1994). Participants were asked to focus and reflect on 16 identity adjectives they had previously chosen to best describe themselves. They were then randomized to one of two conditions, which varies how the adjective were presented: self (e.g., “I am a sympathetic person”) and other (e.g., “You are a sympathetic person). During the task participants continuously rated their positive affect on a scale of -100 to +100 using CARMA, a web-based affect rating technology. Participants completed a battery of measures including the Borderline Identity Disturbance Scale (BIDS).

Moderation analyses indicated that ID and condition interacted to predict positive affect variability, such that for those in the “self” condition there was a stronger positive relationship between ID and variability than for those in the “other” condition. Mixed model regression analyses further indicated that controlling for condition, identity disturbance predicted mean positive affect over the course of the 16 slides. Those with lower identity disturbance started with more positive affect and improved over the course of the task, while those with higher identity disturbance started with less positive affect and worsened over the course of the task.

Findings suggest that higher identity disturbance may be associated with a depressed experience of positive affect. Further, positive affect may be more variable for individuals with higher identity disturbance, when attending to identity-salient information stemming from oneself, rather than from another person in your life. Cognitive processing difficulties associated with identity disturbance may be influential in the momentary experience of positive emotion. Understanding these processes could be important to enhancing overall well-being for those who have difficulty with their sense of themselves.