EMOTIONS (UN)EXPRESSED IN WORDS: REFERENTIAL ACTIVITY IN BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Journal Title: Acta Neuropsychologica - Year 2013, Vol 11, Issue 2
Abstract
Referential activity (RA), defined as the activity of references between verbal and non-verbal representations, gives insight into the representation and symbolization of emotions, which is essential for the dysregulation of emotions, the key problem in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Our goal was to compare RA in a group of persons with BPD and healthy controls, and to analyze the dependencies between RA and features of temperament.We compared the utterances of 31 healthy controls and 53 persons with BPD in terms of RA referring to drawings depicting interpersonal relations evoking positive or negative emotions. As research instruments we used the Borderline Personality Inventory for diagnosis, along with the Formal Characterization of Behavior temperament questionnaire and the Referential Activity Scale. We also examined possible temperamental correlates of RA and identified those features of temperament and dimensions of RA that constitute specific and independent predictors of BPD.In the utterances of the BPD group in negative material there was a higher level of Concreteness, Imagery, and Specificity. We also found a pattern of correlation of all dimensions of RA with perseveration in the responses to negative material. Emotional reactivity (among the features of temperament) and specificity (among the dimensions of RA) constituted specific predictors of BPD.RA in BPD shows greater availability of sub-symbolic representations of negative emotional schemas, but without the reflective integration of emotional experience, which makes emotional regulation possible. Our results point to the arousal of subsymbolic representations, which are persevered, rather than absorbed by reflection.
Authors and Affiliations
Dominika Górska
Keywords
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