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ViewAttendees 6

Symposia

Personality Disorders

At the Intersection of Interpersonal Difficulties and Emotion Dysregulation in BPD: Associations with NSSI/Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors, Relationship Satisfaction, and Symptoms

1 - (SYM 24) BPD and Nonsuicidal Self-injury: The Effect of Interpersonal Sensitivity and Emotion Dysregulation

Friday, November 21, 2025
5:04 PM - 5:18 PM CST
Location: Strand 12 A&B, Level 2
Keywords: Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotion, Self-Injury
Recommended Readings: Dixon-Gordon, K. L., Fitzpatrick, S., & Haliczer, L. A. (2021). Emotion regulation and borderline personality features in daily life: The role of social context. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282, 677 - 685.,   Fitzpatrick, S., Liebman, R. E., & Monson, C. (2021). The borderline interpersonal-affective systems (BIAS) model: Extending understanding of the interpersonal context of borderline personality disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 84, 101983.,   Herr, N. R., Kivity, Y., Ramadurai, R., Covington, A. M., & Gunthert, K. C. (2024). Empathic accuracy of romantic partner negative affect is influenced by borderline personality symptoms. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 15, 74 - 83.,   Howard, K. P. & Cheavens, J. S. (2023). Interpersonal emotion regulation in the context of social networks: A focus on borderline personality disorder. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 14, 182 - 195.,  
Abstract Body



Background: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), or intentional, self-directed injurious behavior without suicidal intent (Klonsky et al., 2003), is a transdiagnostic behavior with a primary function to regulate, or decrease the intensity, of one’s emotions (Gratz, 2003). Interpersonal problems are a key risk factor in predicting self-harm (Adrian et al., 2011), particularly in borderline personality disorder (BPD; Reichl & Kaess, 2021). Despite the joint influences of emotional and social dysfunction in motivating NSSI, little research has explored how interpersonal sensitivity – high reactivity to interpersonal stressors (e.g., rejection, criticism; Pilkonis et al., 1996) – may be related to NSSI, particularly in the context of emotion regulation difficulties. The present analyses examined how the link between BPD features and NSSI may be accounted for by the interaction of interpersonal sensitivity in conjunction with emotion dysregulation.



Methods: Participants in the present analyses were 76 women (Mage =20.33, SDage =2.33; 33.3% non-white; 27.6% with BPD) who had a history of recent and recurrent NSSI. After a diagnostic interview assessing borderline personality disorder (First et al., 1995), participants completed baseline self-report surveys, and follow-up surveys every 3 months over the span of 1 year regarding their NSSI, emotion dysregulation, and interpersonal sensitivity.



Results: Preliminary cross-sectional analyses revealed the expected link between BPD criteria and NSSI frequency at baseline (p = .002). Additionally, there was a significant interaction between interpersonal sensitivity and emotion dysregulation on NSSI frequency with BPD in the model (p=.019), such that greater interpersonal sensitivity predicting higher NSSI at high levels of emotion dysregulation. Moreover, there was a significant indirect path from BPD to NSSI through interpersonal sensitivity and emotion dysregulation (mediated moderation). We will also conduct linear mixed models to examine whether this pattern predicts future NSSI.



Conclusions: Given the heterogeneity of BPD, it is worth highlighting that the confluence of interpersonal sensitivity and emotion dysregulation are risk factors for NSSI. Limitations, future directions, and clinical implications will be discussed.