DO DEFICITS IN MINDFULNESS UNDERLIE BORDERLINE PERSONALITY FEATURES AND CORE DIFFICULTIES?

The current study investigated whether deficits in mindfulness (the awareness, attention, and acceptance of the present moment) can account for variability in borderline personality (BPD) features and characteristic difficulties in emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and impulsivity. St...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality disorders 2008-10, Vol.22 (5), p.466-482
Main Authors: WUPPERMAN, Peggilee, NEUMANN, Craig S, AXELROD, Seth R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Anxiety
Behavior
Behavior Modification
Biological and medical sciences
Borderline Personality Disorder - diagnosis
Borderline Personality Disorder - psychology
Cognition
Conceptual Tempo
Coping
Effectiveness
Emotional Response
Female
Habituation
Humans
Internal-External Control
Interpersonal Relations
Interpersonal Relationship
Male
Medical sciences
Personality
Personality disorders
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Personality Problems
Population Distribution
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Self Efficacy
Stimuli
Structural Equation Models
Studies
Suicides & suicide attempts
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:The current study investigated whether deficits in mindfulness (the awareness, attention, and acceptance of the present moment) can account for variability in borderline personality (BPD) features and characteristic difficulties in emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and impulsivity. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regressions were utilized to examine the associations of trait mindfulness with BPD features, interpersonal problem-solving, impulsive and passive emotion-regulation strategies, and neuroticism in a sample of young adults (N = 342). As hypothesized, mindfulness was related inversely to BPD features and core areas of difficulty, and these associations continued even when controlling for neuroticism. Additionally, mindfulness deficits continued to predict borderline features even when interpersonal effectiveness, passive and impulsive emotion-regulation, and neuroticism were controlled. It is concluded that deficits in mindfulness may be integral to BPD features. Difficulties with attention, awareness, and acceptance of internal and external experience appear to explain borderline pathology even when controlling for problems with negative affectivity, behavioral dyscontrol, and emotional and interpersonal dysfunction--which have been described as definitional of this disorder. Thus, attention to mindfulness deficits may enhance clinical formulation of BPD symptomatology, as well as provide a vital component of effective BPD treatment.
ISSN:0885-579X
1943-2763
DOI:10.1521/pedi.2008.22.5.466