Difficulties Regulating Emotions Mediates the Associations of Parental Psychological Control and Emotion Invalidation With Borderline Personality Features

Abstract

Extant research has supported a connection between socialization in childhood and difficulties regulating emotions. The biosocial theory of borderline personality disorder (BPD; Crowell, Beauchaine, & Linehan, 2009; Linehan, 1993) suggests that emotion dysregulation is a core mechanism underlying the extreme behaviors, mood instability, identity disturbance, and relationship instability observed in BPD. The present study investigated the impact of socialization factors related to emotions, parental autonomy support, parental psychological control, and childhood trauma on BPD features in a nonclinical young adult sample (N = 357). Relationships between socialization factors and BPD features were evaluated using structural equation modeling, to test integrative hypotheses informed by biosocial theory and self-determination theory. We found that recalled experiences of childhood trauma, emotional magnification of negative emotions, neglect of negative emotions, and parental psychological control were positively associated with BPD features. Difficulties regulating emotions mediated the relationships of childhood emotion socialization factors and psychological control with BPD features. Implications for future research, resiliency, and intervention are discussed.