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Objective: Extant literature has generally conceptualized nonsuicidal self-injury severity in terms of its frequency, although more recently researchers have assessed nonsuicidal self-injury severity by the number of different methods used. There is limited evidence, however, regarding the interaction of these indices in the prediction of clinical severity. Method: The current study aimed to examine these relationships among 2,707 undergraduate students (70% female, Mage = 20.60, 29.95% with nonsuicidal self-injury history) who completed online self-report questionnaires. Analyses utilized structural equation modeling trees and structural equation modeling forests to identify potential subgroups based on nonsuicidal self-injury frequency and/or methods in relation to indicators of clinical severity. Results: Results revealed splits in the following: (a) frequency (between 0 and 1 act); (b) among those with ≥1 acts, frequency (between 8 and 9 acts); (c) among those with ≥1 acts, number of methods (between 1 and 2 methods); and (d) among those with ≥9 acts and ≥2 methods, frequency (between 15 and 16 acts). Structural equation modeling forest findings demonstrated the relative importance of nonsuicidal self-injury frequency in predicting clinical severity. Conclusions: Results suggest that although nonsuicidal self-injury frequency provides a marker of clinical severity, the combination of frequency and the number of methods used may be more valuable in determining severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to characterize patterns of emotional reactivity and dysregulation in borderline personality, depression, and their cooccurrence. In study 1, 488 young adult women from the community were categorized into four groups based on self-reported major depressive disorder (MDD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms (Low BPD/Low MDD; Low BPD/High MDD; High BPD/Low MDD; High BPD/High MDD). Immediate and prolonged subjective emotional reactivity to a laboratory stressor were assessed, and participants completed selfreport and behavioral measures of emotion dysregulation. Study 2 extended these findings, examining emotional reactivity and dysregulation in a clinical population of 176 substance dependent patients with diagnoses of BPD and MDD and including a biological index of emotional reactivity. Results revealed greater prolonged fear reactivity in the High BPD/High MDD (vs. Low BPD/Low MDD) group in study I, and greater prolonged anxiety and negative affect reactivity in both High BPD groups (vs. Low BPD/Low MDD and Low BPD/High MDD groups) in study 2 (but no differences in cortisol reactivity). Results also demonstrated greater subjective (but not behavioral) emotion dysregulation in the High BPD/High MDD (vs. Low BPD/Low MDD) group in study 1 and both High BPD groups (vs. both Low BPD groups) in study 2. Finally, the High BPD/High MDD group reported greater difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors compared with all other groups in study 1 and the Low BPD groups in study 2. Findings suggest that BPD pathology (but not MDD pathology alone) is characterized by greater prolonged emotional (especially anxiety/ fear-related) reactivity and heightened emotion dysregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African American women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) and its negative consequences, including healthcompromising behaviors. Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is one clinically-relevant behavior that has been understudied among African American women generally and those with exposure to IPV in particular. To date, no studies have examined factors that may account for the relationship between IPV and DSH. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to examine the intercorrelations among IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual), PTSD, and DSH history and versatility, and the potentially mediating role of PTSD symptoms in the IPV-DSH relation. Participants were 197 African American community women currently experiencing IPV. Sixty participants (31%) reported a history of DSH. Among participants who reported DSH, there was an average endorsement of 2.3 unique forms of deliberate self-harm (i.e., DSH versatility). Significant positive associations were detected among physical IPV severity, psychological IPV severity, PTSD symptom severity, and DSH history and versatility. PTSD symptom severity mediated the relationships between physical and psychological IPV severity and DSH history and versatility. Results highlight the relevance of PTSD symptoms to DSH and suggest that treatments targeting PTSD symptoms may be useful in reducing DSH among IPV-exposed African American women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the correlation between cocaine-related attentional bias and borderline personality disorder following exposure to trauma cues. The study investigates cocaine-dependent patients who have listened to both a neutral and personally-relevant emotionally evocative script as well as completed a dot-probe task having cocaine-related stimuli. The study reveals that cocaine use could have gender-specific functions among substance use disorders (SUDs) patients.

Emotional reactivity has been theorized to play a central role in borderline personality (BP) pathology. Although growing research provides evidence for subjective emotional reactivity in BP pathology, research on physiological or biological reactivity among people with BP pathology is less conclusive. With regard to biological reactivity in particular, research on cortisol reactivity (a neurobiological marker of emotional reactivity) in response to stressors among individuals with BP pathology has produced contradictory results and highlighted the potential moderating role of PTSD-related pathology. Thus, this study sought to examine the moderating role of PTSD symptoms in the relation between BP pathology and both subjective (self-report) and biological (cortisol) emotional reactivity to a laboratory stressor. Participants were 171 patients in a residential substance use disorder treatment center. Consistent with hypotheses, results revealed a significant main effect of BP pathology on subjective emotional reactivity to the laboratory stressor. Furthermore, results revealed a significant interaction between BP pathology and PTSD symptoms in the prediction of cortisol reactivity, such that BP pathology was associated with heightened cortisol reactivity only among participants with low levels of PTSD symptoms. Similar findings were obtained when examining the interaction between BP pathology and the reexperiencing and avoidance/numbing symptoms of PTSD specifically. Results highlight the moderating role of PTSD symptoms in the BP-reactivity relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]