Intro: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mood disorder that affects 2-4% of the general population, up to 20% of psychological inpatients, and 10% outpatients. It is characterized by unstable affect, behavior, mood, interpersonal relationships, and self-image, and tends to stem from a history of abuse. The DSM-5 scales are labeled as: impulsivity, affect inability, abandonment, unstable relationships, self-image, suicide, emptiness, anger, and quasi-psychotic states. A general finding shows those with BPD tend to have difficulty recognizing and reacting to negative emotions (mainly fear, anger, and disgust). Additionally, researchers have found the brain areas that relate to emotion, planning, attention, memory, and decision-making are smaller in borderlines than healthy subjects.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine participants with subclinical borderline features and determine the relationships between facial affect recognition deficits.
Methods: Two-hundred-and-three potential participants were screened using the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ). Thirty-five undergraduates from Cleveland State University participated in a computer-based study assessing reaction times (RT) and accuracy to Ekman’s Pictures of Facial Affect, the now-standard emotional facial stimuli.
Results: The majority of participants were Caucasian (68.8%), female (88.6%), and right-handed (94.3%). Mean age was 20.89 ± 4.75 (range= 23). There were 3 (8.6%) subjects of Hispanic ethnicity. Sixteen (45.7%) of the 35 subjects exhibited high borderline traits, as defined as scoring at least 1.5 standard deviations above the mean on the BPQ. There were no significant differences comparing RT and accuracy between groups (all p values = .124). With regard to lateralization, there is a significant difference in the relative disgust index when comparing borderlines (M= .61 ± .08) to controls (M= .73 ± .12) (t(33)=1.31, p= .002).
Conclusions: Our sample of adults with subclinical borderline features did not exhibit significant deficits in their recognition of facial affect, yet appeared to have difficulties in reacting quickly to the stimuli. Our data suggests lateralization of disgust is symptom specific. As such, it is plausible that when people with borderline traits are experiencing an episode, the lateralization changes. Therefore, we should think about the concept of facial affect recognition as a dynamic process of emotional state.