Negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability in the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms

Negative emotionality is a distinguishing feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, this person-level characteristic has not been examined as a marker of vulnerability in the development of this disorder. The current study utilized a multi-method approach to examine the interplay between negative emotional reactivity and cumulative exposure to family adversity on the development of BPD symptoms across three years (ages 16–18) in a diverse, at-risk sample of adolescent girls (N=113). A latent variable of negative emotional reactivity was created from multiple assessments at age 16: (1) self-report, (2) emotion ratings to stressors from ecological assessments across one week, and (3) observer-rated negative affectivity during a mother-daughter conflict discussion task. Exposure to family adversity was measured cumulatively between ages 5 and 16 from annual assessments of family poverty, single parent household, and difficult life circumstances. Results from latent growth curve models demonstrated a significant interaction between negative emotional reactivity and family adversity, such that exposure to adversity strengthened the association between negative emotional reactivity and BPD symptoms. Additionally, family adversity predicted increasing BPD symptoms during late adolescence. These findings highlight negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability that ultimately increases risk for the development of BPD symptoms

Developmental changes in adolescent girls' attachment security, social functioning, and psychopathology symptoms in a high-risk community sample

The first aim of this study was to examine developmental changes in the quality of girls' attachment to their primary caregiver during adolescence, and to examine baseline predictors of changes in attachment from sociodemographic, parenting, and parent psychopathology factors. The second aim of this study was to examine relations between changes in the quality of girls' attachment to their caregiver and concurrent changes in psychopathology symptoms and social dysfunction during adolescence. There was a significant linear decline in quality of girls' attachment to their primary caregiver from ages 11 to 16. Parenting practices predicted decreases in attachment security, even after controlling for sociodemographic risk factors and parental psychopathology. Lack of secure attachment to caregivers at age 11 and decreases in attachment security from ages 11 to 16 were related to increases in psychopathology symptoms and social dysfunction during the same time period

Daily Sleep Quality and Proximal Risk for Adolescent Reactive Aggression: The Moderating Role of Executive Function

This study examines how day-to-day changes in adolescent sleep influence the risk of next-day reactive aggression, and whether executive function moderates this association. We leverage a dyadic ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol, with 103 adolescents (ages 14–17) and their parents completing 10–14 days of real-time surveys about mood, behavior, and sleep. Adolescents reported daily on subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, and sleep timing (sleep midpoint), while both youth and caregivers provided reports of aggression across four prompts each day. The primary aim is to test whether within-person deviations from typical sleep patterns (e.g., worse-than-usual sleep quality, shorter duration, later sleep midpoint) predict increased next-day aggression. We further examine whether baseline executive function—measured as a latent factor derived from NIH Toolbox tasks assessing inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility—moderates this association, such that adolescents with lower executive function may be more vulnerable to the behavioral consequences of poor sleep. We expect that day-to-day variation in sleep will significantly predict next-day aggression, particularly among adolescents with lower executive function. Outcomes from this project will advance understanding of sleep as a proximal risk factor for aggression and identify individual cognitive capacities that may buffer or exacerbate these effects

Parent and peer relationships as longitudinal predictors of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury onset

Abstract Background Adolescence is characterized by developmental changes in social relationships, which may contribute to, or protect against, psychopathology and risky behaviors. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one type of risky behavior that typically begins during adolescence and is associated with problems in relationships with family members and peers. Prior research on social factors in adolescent NSSI has been limited, however, by a narrow focus on specific interpersonal domains, cross-sectional methods, retrospective self-report of childhood experiences, and a failure to predict NSSI onset among as-yet-unaffected youth. Methods We investigated these relationships in 2127 urban-living adolescent girls with no NSSI history at age 13, who were participating in a longitudinal cohort study (Pittsburgh Girls Study). We used discrete-time survival analyses to examine the contribution of time-varying interpersonal risk factors, assessed yearly at ages 13–16, to NSSI onset assessed in the following year (ages 14–17), controlling for relevant covariates, such as depression and race. We considered both behavioral indicators (parental discipline, positive parenting, parental monitoring, peer victimization), and cognitive/affective indicators (quality of attachment to parent, perceptions of peers, and perceptions of one’s own social competence and worth in relation to peers) of interpersonal difficulties. Results Parental harsh punishment, low parental monitoring, and poor quality of attachment to parent predicted increased odds of subsequent adolescent NSSI onset, whereas positive parenting behaviors reduced the odds of next year NSSI onset. Youth who reported more frequent peer victimization, poorer social self-worth and self-competence, and more negative perceptions of peers were also at increased risk of NSSI onset in the following year. When tested simultaneously, no single parenting variable showed a unique association with later NSSI onset; in contrast, peer victimization and poor social self-worth each predicted increased odds of later NSSI onset in an omnibus model of peer and parent relationship characteristics. Conclusions In this urban sample of adolescent girls, both peer and parent factors predicted new onset NSSI, although only peer factors were associated with subsequent NSSI in combined multivariate models. Results further suggest that both behavioral and cognitive/affective indicators of interpersonal problems predict NSSI onset. These findings highlight the relevance of family and peer relationships to NSSI onset, with implications for prevention of NSSI onset among at-risk youth

Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms and Affective Responding to Perceptions of Rejection and Acceptance from Romantic versus Non-Romantic Partners

We examined event-contingent recording (ECR) of daily interpersonal interactions in a diagnostically diverse sample of 101 psychiatric outpatients who were involved in a romantic relationship. We tested whether the unique effect of borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms on affective responses (i.e., hostility, sadness, guilt, fear, positive affect) to perceptions of rejection or acceptance differed with one’s romantic partner compared to non-romantic partners. BPD symptoms were associated with more frequent perceptions of rejection and less frequent perceptions of acceptance across the study. For all participants, perceptions of rejecting behavior were associated with higher within-person negative affect and lower within-person positive affect. As predicted, in interactions with romantic partners only, those with high BPD symptoms reported heightened hostility and, to a lesser extent, attenuated sadness in response to perceptions of rejection. BPD symptoms did not moderate associations between perceptions of rejection and guilt, fear, or positive affect across romantic and non-romantic partners. For all participants, perceived acceptance was associated with lower within-person negative affect and high within-person positive affect. However, BPD symptoms were associated with attenuated positive affect in response to perceptions of accepting behavior in interactions with romantic partners only. BPD symptoms did not moderate associations between perceptions of acceptance and any of the negative affects across romantic and non-romantic partners. This study highlights the specificity of affective responses characteristic of BPD when comparisons are made to patients with other personality and psychiatric disorders. Implications for romantic relationship dysfunction are discussed

Momentary borderline personality disorder symptoms in youth as a function of parental invalidation and youth‐perceived support

BACKGROUND: Parental invalidation is central to etiological models of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Previous studies relied on retrospective accounts or laboratory observations to examine these associations. There is a dearth of research assessing these constructs in daily life, and limited studies have tested the effect of parental invalidation on BPD symptoms during early adolescence, when BPD onsets. The current study took a dynamic approach to assess parents’ validating and invalidating behavior and its effect on youths’ BPD symptom expression in daily life, while accounting for parent-perceived helpfulness of these behaviors and youth-perceived support. METHODS: A psychiatric sample of 162 early adolescents (age range = 10–14 years; 47% female) and their parent completed a four-day ecological momentary assessment study. Parents reported on the use of validating and invalidating (e.g. punishing and ignoring) behaviors during parent–child conflict, as well as perceived helpfulness of these behaviors. Youth reported on their BPD symptoms and perceived parental support. Multilevel models were used to test the between-and within-person effects of parents’ validating and invalidating behaviors, parent-perceived helpfulness and youth-perceived support, and their interaction on youth’s momentary expression of BPD symptoms. RESULTS: At the between-person level, invalidating behaviors, specifically punishing behaviors, were related to greater BPD symptoms in daily life, while ignoring behaviors were associated with fewer BPD symptoms. Youth-perceived support predicted fewer BPD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Results underscore the importance of parental invalidation for the expression of BPD symptoms in daily life and also highlight the importance of youth’s subjective experience of parental support. Findings are discussed in terms of etiological and intervention models that emphasize a dyadic framework