Psychophysiological Correlates of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescent Girls Open Access

Abstract

Linehan's biosocial theory posits that individuals at risk for developing Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) have biological vulnerabilities to emotion dysregulation and exposure to invalidating environments, which would exacerbate these vulnerabilities. In this study, we aimed to characterize adolescents at risk for the development of BPD in two ways. First, by characterizing the biological vulnerabilities; and second, by understanding the association between biological vulnerabilities and functions of NSSI. Participants included two groups of mother-daughter dyads, one of which included adolescents at risk for BPD (i.e. adolescents who engage in repetitive self-injury) and the other with healthy control adolescents. We assessed skin conductance responses to maternal invalidation and self-reported functions of NSSI. Results indicated that healthy controls and self-injuring adolescents did not differ in their response to maternal invalidation, although there was some indication for greater sensitivity among self-injuring adolescents, and no significant association between biological vulnerabilities and functions of NSSI. The findings, if replicated in a study that corrects for this study's methodological limitations, suggest the need to reevaluate key components of the biosocial theory.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………........ 2 Method …………………………………………………………………………………………. 15 Results ………………………………………………………………………………………...... 22 Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………… 24 References ……………………………………………………………………………………… 31 Tables …………………………………………………………………………………………... 37 Figures ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 39 Appendix A …………………………………………………………………………………….. 40

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Clinical Psychology, General Psychology, Developmental
Keyword	Borderline Personality Disorder Skin Conductance Function of NSSI SCR Physiology Biosocial Theory Non-suicidal Self-injury
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Goodman, Sherryl H, Emory University
Committee Members	Barber, Jessica M, Emory University Keyes, Corey, Emory University

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