Functional Impairment in Borderline Personality Disorder: The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by instability in relationships, mood fluctuations, and erratic behavior. This study investigates the relationship between pathological personality traits and functional disability, the status of perceived social support in BPD, as well as its m...

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Published inFrontiers in psychology Vol. 13; p. 883833
Main Authors Thadani, Beatriz, Pérez-García, Ana M., Bermúdez, José
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Frontiers Media S.A 27.05.2022
Subjects
borderline personality disorder
disability
functional impairment
perceived social support
personality disorders
personality traits
Psychology
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Summary:Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by instability in relationships, mood fluctuations, and erratic behavior. This study investigates the relationship between pathological personality traits and functional disability, the status of perceived social support in BPD, as well as its mediating role in this relationship. In this cross-sectional study, 192 Spanish women (BPD group, N = 97; healthy control group, N = 95) completed, through two online platforms, a battery of tests including: the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Brief Form (PID-5-BF) , the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) and the Perceived Social Support subscale of the Quality of Life Questionna ire (QLQ). The results show that perceived social support was significantly lower in the BPD group, which also presented a significantly higher disability score than the control group. Pathological personality traits affected functionality both directly and indirectly through perceived social support, as this variable was a significant mediator in both groups. We conclude that perceived social support is impaired in BPD patients, and enhancing it as a complementary therapy to evidence - based treatments could help preserve the functionality of patients while pathological traits are regulated. This study also encourages future research to delve into the relevance of other psychosocial variables on the functionality of subjects with BPD, and the need of enhancing them in therapy.
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Reviewed by: Joel Paris, McGill University, Canada; Fernando Gutiérrez, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Spain; Maria Leonor Bustamante, University of Chile, Chile
These authors have contributed equally to this work and share first authorship
Edited by: Shih-Wei Huang, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan
This article was submitted to Personality and Social Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.883833