Abstract
Despite the possibility to diagnose the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), defined as a persistent pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, self-image and emotions, and strong impulsiveness, still considerable heterogeneity is observed in the BPD population, which makes diagnosis and treatment of these patients difficult. The classification of BPD into subtypes on the basis of temperament and emotion regulation has theoretical and clinical implications. For example, based on the temperament profiles of BPD patients, one can develop person-specific treatment. Therefore, the first aim of this project is to investigate whether we can define subtypes of BPD patients based on temperamental features and to investigate whether these subtypes differ with respect to psychopathology and coping (e.g., psychiatric symptoms, emotion regulation). The second aim of the present project is to investigate whether the different BPD subtypes will react differently on the treatment they will undergo. During the last two years, we have collected data of 150 patients with BPD in two psychiatric units specialized in the treatment of BPD based on the Dialectic Behavioral Therapy. The participants were assessed by both, direct (interview and questionnaires) and indirect measures (performance-based tasks) of temperamental features, coping styles (e.g. dissociation) and psychopathology (e.g., non-suicidal self-injury, depression, alexithymia) and are followed during treatment.
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