Personal distress mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and interpersonal vulnerabilities in individuals with borderline personality disorder

Pourmohammad, Parisa; Mahdi, Imani; Goodarzi, Mohammad Ali

doi:10.1007/s12144-022-04063-1

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…It is notable that BPF in Study 1 were associated with the two negative components of empathy; personal distress and fantasy rather than the more commonly studied positive components of cognitive and affective empathy; perspective-taking and empathic concern. Personal distress is commonly reported in the literature as being significantly higher in individuals high in BPF compared to those low in BPF (Dittrich et al, 2020;Pourmohammad et al, 2022;Salgado et al, 2020). Thus, our findings do not uniquely implicate affective rather than cognitive empathy deficits in individuals high in BPF.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 41%

“…Study 1: Results of the parallel multiple mediation analyses BPF were also significantly positively associated with fantasy and personal distress scores from the IRIsometimes considered the negative components of cognitive and affective empathy respectively. This finding is interesting because others(Grzegorzewski et al, 2019;Pourmohammad et al, 2022) have found that BPD patients had cognitive but not affective deficits compared to control participants, and others have found deficits in both cognitive and affective empathy(Wang et al, 2021) but our findings do not suggest deficits in either perspective taking or empathic concern in individuals high in BPF.…”

contrasting

confidence: 42%

“…Some of the variance in associations between aversive personality traits and empathy (e.g., Dinsdale & Crespi, 2013;Fertuck et al, 2009;Jonason & Krause, 2013;Kılıç et al, 2020;Minzenberg et al, 2006;Salgado et al, 2020;Vonk et al, 2013) may be due to differences in affective and cognitive empathy, with individuals high in narcissism, for example, showing deficits in affective but not cognitive empathy (Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012). Studies have also shown dissociations of cognitive and affective empathy in patients with BPD as well (Pourmohammad et al, 2022). To date, researchers have focused on the association between aversive personality traits and empathy toward humans with very little research addressing the connection between these traits and empathy for animals (although see Giacomin et al, 2023 for one exception).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Borderline personality features predict empathy for animals but not for children

Vonk,

Pappas

2023

IJPP

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Although empathy is not a defining feature of borderline personality disorder, there is a growing body of work suggesting deficits in some components of empathy toward humans. There is no research investigating the link between borderline personality features (BPF) and empathy toward animals, which may be less threatening to individuals that struggle in interpersonal relationships and fear rejection. We examined BPF and self-reported distress and viewing times of photographs depicting dogs and children in twelve adverse circumstances in a college student sample (N = 464) with trait empathy as a mediator in Study 1. BPF predicted distress to dog but not child photos. There were significant indirect effects of BPF on distress to dog and child photos through personal distress. In Study 2 (N = 524), we further examined the processes underlying these associations by modelling a serial mediation of BPF with distress to dog and child photos through anxious and avoidant attachment to trait empathy toward animals and humans. We replicated the finding that BPF predicted distress to dog but not child photos. BPF predicted both anxious and avoidant attachment styles, which negatively predicted empathy for humans and animals. Empathy for humans mediated the associations with distress for child photos whereas empathy for animals mediated the associations with distress for dog photos. Further research is needed to determine the causal pathways between BPF, attachment, and empathy to animals and humans.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 41%

contrasting

confidence: 42%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Borderline personality features predict empathy for animals but not for children

Vonk,

Pappas

2023

IJPP

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Personality disorders and their association with adverse childhood events

Crişan,

Nechita

2024

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of review Theoretical models of personality disorders (PDs) highlight the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the development and maintenance of personality pathology. This review presents recent studies on the associations between childhood adversity and PDs, while discussing mechanisms and factors that impact these relationships. Recent findings Studies point to small to moderate associations between childhood adversity and cluster A, cluster B and cluster C PDs, and some research suggests that childhood adversity could be a predictor for the onset and development of personality pathology. Most research focuses on borderline PD, while research on other PDs is limited. Some mechanisms that explain these associations have been proposed, with the literature investigating emotion dysregulation, dissociation, avoidance or psychosocial dysfunction as mediators. Summary The consistent associations between ACEs and PDs seems to point that childhood adversity could be a transdiagnostic risk factor for PDs, but research warrants further prospective investigations for causal conclusions, and calls for future research to investigate potential mediators and moderators more thoroughly.

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Adding to the burden: The tendency to resonate with others’ stress is linked to higher PTSD symptom severity in individuals with war-related trauma

Wesarg-Menzel,

Gallistl,

Niconchuk

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Many refugees experience multiple traumatic events, which set them at increased risk to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To refine interventions aimed at improving refugees’ mental health, a better understanding of the factors modulating vulnerability to war-related trauma is needed. In the present study, we focused on stress resonance as a potential vulnerability factor. Stress resonance reflects the empathic sharing of others’ subjective and physiological stress experience. Sixty-seven participants who came from Arabic-speaking countries and had entered Germany as refugees or migrants took part in an empathic stress test, in which they observed a native German speaker undergo a psychosocial laboratory stressor. Meanwhile, different stress markers (subjective stress, heart rate, heart rate variability, and cortisol release) were simultaneously captured in the stressed targets and passive observers. Moderation analyses did not support our hypothesis that the extent to which someone resonates with others’ stress is a vulnerability factor in the development of PTSD symptoms after trauma exposure. Rather, higher levels of subjective and autonomic stress resonance were main predictors of PTSD symptom severity when controlling for sex, age, and trauma exposure. Our findings suggest that heightened stress resonance may constitute a malleable correlate of PTSD rather than a trait modulating health risk. In the future, efforts should be made to test whether individuals with a history of war-related trauma would benefit from interventions aimed to reduce the tendency to excessively share others’ stress.

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Personal distress mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and interpersonal vulnerabilities in individuals with borderline personality disorder

Cited by 3 publications

References 61 publications

Borderline personality features predict empathy for animals but not for children

Borderline personality features predict empathy for animals but not for children

Personality disorders and their association with adverse childhood events

Adding to the burden: The tendency to resonate with others’ stress is linked to higher PTSD symptom severity in individuals with war-related trauma

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