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Cogn Ther Res (2013) 37:466475
DOI 10.1007/s10608-012-9515-y
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Emotion Regulation Decits as Mediators Between Trauma Exposure and Borderline Symptoms
Raluca M. Gaher Nicole L. Hofman
Jeffrey S. Simons Ryan Hunsaker
Published online: 8 January 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract We tested a model of mechanisms linking the experience of trauma exposure with borderline personality symptoms via decits in core aspects of emotion regulation. Participants were college students (N = 579). History of traumatic exposure and negative affectivity were positively and emotional intelligence inversely associated with borderline symptoms. These effects were mediated via alexithymia. Decits in identifying and describing emotions, in turn, were associated with poor tolerance for emotional distress and an increase in acting rashly when negatively aroused. Finally, distress tolerance exhibited both direct, and indirect (via urgency), associations with borderline personality symptoms. Decits in the ability to identify, describe, and understand emotion are related to intolerance for distress and impulsive behavior when negatively aroused. The effects of distress tolerance are consistent with theoretical models that posit that intolerance for distress contributes to decits in behavioral regulation. Borderline personality symptoms reect decits in behavioral control when negatively aroused as well as a pattern of negative evaluations, poor self-efcacy, and emotional absorption contributing to marked interference with adaptive goal directed activity when distressed.
Keywords Emotion regulation Trauma
Distress tolerance Borderline symptoms
Introduction
Traumatic Experiences and Borderline Symptoms
Trauma exposure (i.e., the experience of a threatening event that produced intense fear, helplessness or horror) is associated with a wide range of negative sequelae, including internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety (Dulin and Passmore 2010), and externalizing problems such as substance use (Suarez et al. 2012). The experience of traumatic events is elevated among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Estimates indicate that 7590 %of individuals who have borderline personality disorder also report experiencing potentially traumatic events (A et al. 2011; Bandelow et al. 2002; Brune et al. 2010; Igarashi et al. 2010). Individuals diagnosed with BPD report experiencing more potentially traumatic events than healthy controls (Bandelow et al. 2002; Jovev and Jackson 2006; Horesh et al. 2008), those diagnosed with other personality disorders (Paris et al. 1994; Zanarini et al. 2000; Zweig-Frank et al. 1994), depression (Ogata et al. 1990; Weaver and...