1 - (SYM 25) Examining the Relative Centrality of Intrapersonal versus Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Difficulties to Borderline Personality Disorder Pathology

Although efforts to characterize emotion regulation (ER) difficulties in borderline personality disorder (BPD) have historically focused almost exclusively on intrapersonal ER, recognition of the centrality of interpersonal sensitivity to BPD, as well as the transactional relations between emotional and interpersonal processes within BPD, has led to a growing interest in examining interpersonal ER (i.e., interactions with another person that specifically serve an emotion regulatory function; Zaki & Williams, 2013) in BPD as well. In particular, theory highlights a reciprocal, transactional relation between intrapersonal and intrinsic interpersonal ER, such that deficits in one domain may lead to an over-reliance on strategies in the other domain and vice versa (Coan & Maresh, 2014; Hughes et al., 2011; Gratz et al., 2016). However, little research has examined the interrelations of intrapersonal and interpersonal ER in the context of BPD. Thus, this study used network analysis to examine the relations among BPD symptom clusters and specific dimensions of ER (across intrapersonal and interpersonal domains) and identify the most central dimensions of ER to BPD pathology.

Participants included a nationwide community sample of 916 adults who completed an online study through an internet-based research platform. The final sample of participants (63.4% assigned female at birth; 36.6% assigned male at birth) ranged in age from 20 to 82 (mean = 39.5 ± 11.2). Participants completed measures of BPD symptoms (McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder [MSI-BPD]; Zanarini et al., 2003), intrapersonal ER difficulties (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale [DERS]; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and interpersonal ER tendency and efficacy (Interpersonal Regulation Questionnaire [IRQ]; Williams et al., 2018).

Results suggest that DERS-Impulse is the most central node in the model, connecting most other dimensions of ER (intrapersonal and interpersonal) to BPD symptoms. Further, DERS-Impulse demonstrated robust relations to both interpersonal ER tendency and interpersonal ER efficacy for negative emotions, albeit in opposite directions. Specifically, whereas DERS-Impulse was positively associated with the tendency to use interpersonal ER strategies for negative emotions, it was negatively associated with the perceived efficacy of these strategies. Finally, the tendency to rely on interpersonal ER strategies for negative emotions emerged as the most central interpersonal ER dimension.