(PS8-C60) Emotional Reactivity in Borderline Personality Disorder: The Role of Suppression

Although emotion regulation difficulties have been identified as a hallmark of borderline personality disorder (BPD, Linehan, 1993), there is mixed evidence of whether emotional reactivity in particular is consistently seen in this population (Fitzpatrick, Varma, & Kuo, 2021). It is possible that the emotion suppression that is characteristic of BPD (Beblo et al., 2013) may alter emotional responses, potentially explaining some of the heterogeneity in terms of emotional reactivity research. Thus, the present study will examine: 1) BPD is associated with emotional reactivity, and 2) whether suppression moderates the relationship between BPD and emotional reactivity. Participants (N = 148, Mage = 23.31, SD = 6.65, 81.1% female) were recruited from a large Eastern university and surrounding community, which overrecruited for BPD features. BPD criteria were assessed via clinical interview (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1996). After undergoing neutral emotion inductions (i.e., counting the number of times a color appeared on the screen) and a personalized negative emotion inductions (based on a recent upsetting interpersonal interaction), we assessed emotional reactivity (on the PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988), skin conductance, heart rate variability) and suppression were assessed (REQ; (Campbell-Sills, Barlow, Brown, & Hofmann, 2006). Preliminary results (via the MEMORE plugin, Montoya, 2019) suggest that BPD criteria were associated with greater negative emotional reactivity on the PANAS (B = .36, SE = .15, p = .019). Furthermore, emotion suppression interacted with BPD criteria to predict greater emotional reactivity (REQxBPD; B = 0.229, SE = .061, p < .001). Findings regarding physiological reactivity will also be reported. These data bridge a gap in existing literature by identifying one source of the mixed findings regarding emotional reactivity in BPD, namely emotion regulation. Findings suggest that emotion suppression amplifies this reactivity, making emotional acceptance a critical skill that must be honed for patients with BPD. These data point to ways to capitalize on BPD patients’ strengths and work on creating unique treatment targets based on an individual’s presenting BPD symptoms. If we can help people to use skills more effectively, that could shorten treatment and prevent people with BPD from needing to return to health facilities for related services, which can be very costly to the government and our health care system.