University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Emotional awareness moderates the relationship between childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder symptom dimensions

Westbrook, John Lee

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90575

Description

Title
Emotional awareness moderates the relationship between childhood abuse and borderline personality disorder symptom dimensions
Author(s)
Westbrook, John Lee
Issue Date
2016-04-19
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
  • Berenbaum, Howard
  • Cohen, Joseph R.
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • Emotional awareness
  • Borderline personality disorder
  • Childhood abuse
Abstract
Objective: To examine pathways to borderline personality disorder (BPD), focusing on childhood abuse and emotional attention and clarity. Method: Among 293 community residents (mean age = 43.1; 53.9% female), measured associations between the BPD symptom dimensions of disturbed relatedness, affective dysregulation, and behavioral dysregulation and (a) childhood abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual); (b) emotional attention and clarity; and (c) negative affect, using structured interviews, the Schedule for Non-Adaptive and Adaptive Personality-2, the Trait Meta Mood Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, respectively. Results: All forms of childhood abuse were associated with BPD symptom dimensions. Emotional attention and clarity moderated the effects of childhood physical and emotional abuse on behavioral dysregulation and disturbed relatedness. All results held when controlling for negative affect. Conclusion: The relations between childhood abuse and BPD are robust. Emotional attention and clarity may help elucidate the links between childhood abuse and BPD.
Graduation Semester
2016-05
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90575
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2016 John Westbrook

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