The 10-year course of adult aggression toward others in patients with borderline personality disorder and axis II comparison subjects.

This study had two aims. The first was to assess and compare various types of aggressive behavior toward others reported by borderline patients and axis II comparison subjects over time. The second was to determine the best baseline and time-varying predictors of aggressive behavior in these borderline patients. At baseline, a series of interviews and self-report measures were administered to 290 borderline patients and 72 axis II comparison subjects. Measures assessing aggression toward others, axis I and II disorders as well as adult adversity were re-administered every two years over the course of ten years. It was found that borderline patients reported significantly higher rates of verbal, emotional, and physical aggression toward others than comparison subjects but the rates of these forms of aggression toward others declined significantly for those in both study groups. Multivariate analyses indicated that the strongest predictors of adult aggression towards others were severity of adult adversity and a substance use disorder. Taken together, these results suggest that borderline patients commonly report aggression toward others but that this aggression declines significantly over time. These results also suggest that this aggression toward others is most strongly associated with adult experiences of adversity and concurrent substance abuse.

The impact of validation and invalidation on aggression in individuals with emotion regulation difficulties.

For individuals with difficulty regulating their emotions, aggression has been found to be a particularly problematic interpersonal behavior. Invalidation (i.e., rejection of one's emotional experience) is thought to play a role in the etiology of disorders of emotion regulation, and it may be a trigger for aggressive behaviors. The present study experimentally manipulated validation and invalidation after a sad mood induction among individuals with few versus many difficulties regulating their emotions. Subsequent aggression was measured using an in-laboratory behavioral task. Results indicate that, among individuals with many difficulties regulating their emotions, validation led to significantly less aggression than did invalidation. However, among individuals with few difficulties regulating their emotions, aggressive behaviors were generally low and did not differ after validation as compared with invalidation. The findings suggest that validation of emotional experiences may help to prevent aggressive behaviors among individuals with difficulties regulating their emotions.