Shame and implicit self-concept in women with borderline personality disorder.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
Shame is considered to be a central emotion in borderline personality disorder and to be related to self-injurious behavior, chronic suicidality, and anger-hostility. However, its level and impact on people with borderline personality disorder are largely unknown. The authors examined levels of self-reported shame, guilt, anxiety, and implicit shame-related self-concept in women with borderline personality disorder and assessed the association of shame with self-esteem, quality of life, and anger-hostility.

METHOD:
Sixty women with borderline personality disorder completed self-report measures of shame- and guilt-proneness, state shame, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, quality of life, and clinical symptoms. Comparison groups consisted of 30 women with social phobia and 60 healthy women. Implicit shame-related self-concept (relative to anxiety) was assessed by the Implicit Association Test.

RESULTS:
Women with borderline personality disorder reported higher levels of shame- and guilt-proneness, state shame, and anxiety than women with social phobia and healthy comparison subjects. The implicit self-concept in women with borderline personality disorder was more shame-prone (relative to anxiety-prone) than in women in the comparison groups. After depression was controlled for, shame-proneness was negatively correlated with self-esteem and quality of life and positively correlated with anger-hostility.

CONCLUSIONS:
Shame, an emotion that is prominent in women with borderline personality disorder, is associated with the implicit self-concept as well as with poorer quality of life and self-esteem and greater anger-hostility. Psychotherapeutic approaches to borderline personality disorder need to address explicit and implicit aspects of shame.

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Author information

Author/s: Rüsch, Nicolas (N); Lieb, Klaus (K); Göttler, Ines (I); Hermann, Christiane (C); Schramm, Elisabeth (E); Richter, Harald (H); Jacob, Gitta A (GA); Corrigan, Patrick W (PW); Bohus, Martin (M);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Hauptstrasse 5, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. nicolas.ruesch(-atsign-)uniklinik-freiburg.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The American journal of psychiatry (Am J Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 164 (issue 3) : pp 500-8

Dates: Created 2007/03/01; Completed 2007/05/17;

PMID: 17329476, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Anger
Anxiety
Borderline Personality Disorder - diagnosis; psychology; therapy
Diagnosis, Differential
Emotions
Female
Guilt
Hostility

Humans
Middle Aged
Personality Inventory
Phobic Disorders - diagnosis; psychology
Psychotherapy - methods
Quality of Life
Questionnaires
Self Concept
Sex Factors
Shame

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