Original Article
Emotion dysregulation, symptoms, and interpersonal problems as independent predictors of a broad range of personality disorders in an outpatient sample
Giancarlo Dimaggio,
Raffaele Popolo,
Antonella Montano,
Patrizia Velotti,
Filippo Perrini,
Luisa Buonocore,
Carlo Garofalo,
Mario D'Aguanno,
Giampaolo Salvatore,
Corresponding Author
Giancarlo Dimaggio
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Correspondence should be addressed to Giancarlo Dimaggio, Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Piazza dei Martiri di Belfiore, 4, 00195, Rome, Italy (email: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this authorRaffaele Popolo
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Studi Cognitivi, Milan, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorPatrizia Velotti
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorLuisa Buonocore
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCarlo Garofalo
Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorMario D'Aguanno
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorGiampaolo Salvatore
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this author
Giancarlo Dimaggio,
Raffaele Popolo,
Antonella Montano,
Patrizia Velotti,
Filippo Perrini,
Luisa Buonocore,
Carlo Garofalo,
Mario D'Aguanno,
Giampaolo Salvatore,
Corresponding Author
Giancarlo Dimaggio
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Correspondence should be addressed to Giancarlo Dimaggio, Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Piazza dei Martiri di Belfiore, 4, 00195, Rome, Italy (email: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this authorRaffaele Popolo
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Studi Cognitivi, Milan, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorPatrizia Velotti
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorLuisa Buonocore
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorCarlo Garofalo
Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorMario D'Aguanno
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorGiampaolo Salvatore
Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, Rome, Italy
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Emotion dysregulation (ED) is considered a hallmark of borderline personality disorder and is prominent in other personality disorders (PDs). Its presence and contribution to personality pathology need to be explored in the whole range of PDs. In this study, we investigated the association of ED with the whole range of PD traits, symptoms, and interpersonal problems and then investigated whether ED had a unique contribution in predicting the different PDs. A sample of 478 treatment-seeking outpatients was interviewed with the SCID-II. The patients were then tested for symptoms (SCL-90-R), interpersonal problems (IIP-32), and ED (DERS). Results: ED correlated with the large majority of PDs and with symptoms and interpersonal problems. Regression showed how ED explained a unique part of the variance for many PDs. ED appears to be a relevant feature of pathology in many PDs; with replication, it can be considered a treatment target in this population.
Practitioner points
- Emotion dysregulation is present in many personality disorders.
- Emotion dysregulation is not just explained by heightened symptoms and interpersonal problems in personality disorders.
- Emotion dysregulation could be considered a treatment target in personality disorders other than borderline.
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