Bakgrund: Få områden inom dagens medicin står inför så många och svåra etiska problem som transplantationskirurgin. De svårt sjuka människor som får möjligheten att genomgå en transplantation får chansen till ett nytt liv. Det är viktigt att sätta sig in i hur patienten upplever väntan för att som vårdpersonal kunna ge ett bra bemötande och en god omvårdnad. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att ur ett patientperspektiv beskriva den känslomässiga upplevelsen av att vänta på en organtransplantation.Metod: Litteraturstudien bygger på åtta kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat: Att vänta på en organtransplantation beskrevs som smärtsamt samtidigt som det gav patienterna tid att förbereda sig. Sjukvården kunde hjälpa till att hantera väntan genom att anpassa informationen till varje individs tempo och behov. Stöd från familj,sjukvårdspersonal och medpatienter var viktigt för att orka vänta på transplantationen. Att bli placerad på transplantationslistan gav patienterna en ny chans och ett nytt hopp. Patienterna pratade om betydelsen av att göra varje dag meningsfull. Diskussion:Resultatet har knutits samman med Aaron Antonovskys hälsoteori KASAM som utgårfrån de tre centrala begreppen, Begriplighet, Hanterbarhet och Meningsfullhet. Slutsats:För att omvårdnaden kring transplantationspatienterna ska kunna utvecklas ochförbättras krävs det idag mer forskning. Forskningen är begränsad gällande patientensupplevelse av tiden före en organtransplantation. / Background: Few areas in medicine today are facing so many difficult ethical problems as transplant surgery. The seriously ill people who get the opportunity to undergo a transplant surgery will get the chance for a new life. It is important that health care professionals understand how patients experience waiting so that they can give good treatment and good care. Aim: The aim of the literature study was to describe the emotional experience of waiting for an organ transplant from a patient perspective. Method: The literature study was based on eight research articles with qualitative method. Result: To wait for an organ transplant was described as painful, but at the same time it gave the patients time to prepare. Health care professionals could help the patients deal with the wait by adapting the information to each individual's pace and needs. Support from family, medical staff and fellow-patients were important to get the energy while waiting for the transplantation. To be placed on the transplant list, gave the patients a new chance and new hope. Patients talked about the importance ofmaking each day meaningful. Discussion: The results have been linked together with Aaron Antonovsky’s health theory, KASAM wich is based on three key concepts: Comprehensibility, Manageability and Meaningfulness. Conclusion: Research is limited concerning how patients experience time before an organ transplant. To develop and improve the care to this patient’s requires further research.

Visamos, ao realizar a presente pesquisa, investigar psicanaliticamente a experiência emocional de adolescentes que defrontam-se com situações de morte de coetâneos com os quais convivem proximamente. A partir de uma rede de contatos institucionais, derivados de pesquisas anteriores, realizadas nos últimos cinco anos, obtivemos informação acerca da ocorrência de um acidente que vitimou uma adolescente. Contatamos a organização não governamental, dedicada ao cuidado de adolescentes de favelas, em que a vítima frequentava atividades grupais. Organizamos a investigação distinguindo, metodologicamente, procedimentos investigativos de configuração, registro e interpretação do acontecer com os participantes e procedimento investigativo de interlocução reflexiva. Configuramos dois tipos diferentes para esses encontros: visitas institucionais e entrevista coletiva estruturada ao redor do uso do Procedimento de Desenhos-Estórias com Tema. Elaboramos, posteriormente, narrativas transferenciais que, consideradas conjuntamente com os desenhos e histórias, permitiram a produção interpretativa de quatro campos de sentido afetivo-emocional ou inconscientes relativos: Quem será o próximo?, Preso no acontecer, Mais do mesmo e Por nossa conta e risco. Finalizando o trabalho, estabelecemos interlocuções reflexivas que nos levam a considerar que a experiência de morte de coetâneos tende a ser significada em sentido que reforça crenças na impossibilidade de futuro favorável e esperançoso. Tais crenças associam-se à percepção clara de sua inserção social desfavorecida em um país periférico do capitalismo globalizado. O quadro geral requer ações afirmativas, favorecendo a constituição de ambientes familiares e sociais que possam sustentar o amadurecimento pessoal segundo uma ética de respeito à vida humana / We aim, in this research, investigate psychoanalytically the emotional experience of adolescents that, from pronounced social precariousness, faced with death situations of peers with whom they live closely. From a network of institutional contacts, derived from previous research conducted in the last five years, we obtained information about the occurrence of an accident that killed a teenager. We contacted the non-governmental organization dedicated to the care of adolescents in slums, where the victim attended group activities. We organized this research distinguishing methodologically investigative procedures of configuration, registration and interpretation of inter-human occur. We configure two different types of meeting participants: institutional visits and press conference structured around the use of Thematic Story-Drawing. Elaborated later transference narratives which considered together with drawings and stories, allowed the production of four comprehensive field of affective-emotional sense or unconscious relative: \"Who will be the next\", Stuck in place, \"More of the same\" and \"By our peril.. Finishing work, we established reflective dialogues that lead us to consider that the experience of death in adolescents tends to be meant as evidence that reinforces belief in the impossibility of favorable and hopeful future. The overall picture demand a vehement criticism of all psychological reductionism. Moreover, it requires affirmative action favoring the formation of family and social environments that can sustain personal growth according to an ethic of respect for human life

Bakgrund Anhöriga till patienter i den palliativa vården behöver mer praktisk information och kunskap så att de kan fylla sin vårdande roll. Att ge stöd till anhöriga i deras nya och krävande roller gynnar det patienten, anhöriga och hälso- och sjukvården. Familjefokuserad omvårdnad är ett förhållningssätt som kan bidra till hälsa och välbefinnande för både patienten och familjen med värdighet och respekt. Syfte Syftet var att beskriva anhörigas emotionella upplevelser av palliativ vård på hospice. Metod Litteraturöversikten är en litteraturstudie som är strukturerad och har inslag av den metodologi som tillämpas vid systematiska översikter. Analysen som resultatet baserades på grundades i femton kavlitetsgranskade artiklar. Datasökning genomfördes i databaserna Cinahl och PubMed. Resultat Resultatet visade att det förekom negativa emotionella upplevelser hos anhöriga vid bristande kommunikation och informationshantering. Två huvudkategorier framkom; Kommunikation och- Informationshantering och Stöd från omgivning. Slutsats Anhöriga upplevde vårdandet av familjemedlemmar i livets slutskede som emotionellt krävande. De upplevde även saknad av delaktighet på grund av dålig kommunikation relaterad till brist på information. Anhöriga belyser även att hospicesjuksköterskor samt vårdpersonalen många gånger inte tar hänsyn till deras kunskap och oförberedskap inför den palliativa vården och dess innebörd. Alla dessa utmaningar ledde till tveksamhet, rädsla, oro och tvivel. / Background Relatives of patients in palliative care need to acquire more practical information and knowledge so that they can fulfill their caring role. Giving support to relatives in their new and demanding roles benefits the patient, relatives, and health care. Family-focused nursing is an approach that ensures health and well-being for both the patient and the family with dignity and respect. Aim Aim of this study is to describe relatives' emotional experiences of palliative care in hospice facility. Method This literature review is a literature study that was structured with the element of methodology used in systematic reviews. The analysis was based on fifteen quality reviewed articles. The data search was performed in the databases Cinahl and PubMed. Results The result showed that there were negative emotional experiences among relatives due to lack of communication and information management. Two main categories appeared: Communication and- Information management and Support from the environment. Conclusions Relatives experienced caring for family members at the end of life as emotionally demanding. They also experienced a lack of participation due to poor communication and information. Relatives also highlight that hospice nurses and care staff often do not take into consideration their knowledge and unpreparedness for palliative care. All these challenges led to hesitation, fear, anxiety and doubt.

Inledning: Psykoterapeutiskt arbete med bearbetning av omedvetna känslomässiga konflikter innebär ofta terapiprocesser som varar över lång tid och kan bedrivas med skiftande tekniker. Psykodynamiskt inriktade terapeuters arbetssätt speglar deras teoretiska övertygelse och personliga läggning. Många arbetar intuitivt och med ett eklektiskt förhållningssätt. Att arbeta efter en sekventiell, tydligt formgiven metod är ovanligt inom den dynamiska/analytiska traditionen. Syftet med studien är att undersöka fem psykoterapeuters upplevelse av att lära sig arbeta efter en specifik metod med fokus på affekter; Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. Frågeställningarna fokuserar på terapeuternas upplevelse av att lära sig arbeta med metoden, deras beskrivning av skillnaderna mellan sitt tidigare arbetssätt och det nya samt hur utbildningen påverkat deras syn på vad som är verksamt i psykoterapi. Metod: Fem psykoterapeuter som gått Patricia Coughlin Della Selvas treåriga ISTDPutbildning har intervjuats. Resultaten visar att terapeuterna upplevde ISTDP metoden som mycket komplicerad att lära sig. Att frångå sitt tidigare mer intuitiva, inväntande arbetssätt har varit svårt. Det aktiva arbetet med försvaren och metodens multifokus kräver mycket av både terapeut och patient, men ger enligt terapeuterna utdelning i form av snabbare positiv förändring för patienten. Terapeuterna anser att ISTDP-utbildningen har givit dem färdigheter och trygghet att arbeta på ett mer aktivt sätt som når fram till bortträngda minnen och affekter och blir till hjälp för patienten. Terapeuternas övertygelse om vikten av att affekter genomlevs i terapirummet har förstärkts under utbildningen. De påtalar också metodens skarpa fokus på intrapsykisk konflikt samt tydlig överenskommelse med patienten kring vad man ska arbeta med som verksamma faktorer. Slutsatser: Att lära sig arbeta med ISTDP upplevs som komplicerat och känslomässigt omvälvande. När man väl blivit förtrogen med metoden ger det aktiva, direkta arbetssättet enligt terapeuterna möjlighet att ta sig dit man har för avsikt att komma i patientarbetet, nämligen till genomarbetning av omedvetna minnen och affekter. En alltför inväntande och försiktig terapeutisk hållning upplevs hindrande för den terapeutiska processen.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:28:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL AIELLO-FERNANDES.pdf: 2903530 bytes, checksum: 9181c1d47ae0ac3472890fbd88db55dd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-04 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas / This study investigates the effects of racism in the emotional experience of black Brazilians, who have known some upward mobility. Doubly justified, this work contributes to both bringing up theoretical and practical information on social suffering clinic and helping increase the visibility of the social phenomenon. The study is organized as empirical research by means of the psychoanalytic method, based on two interviews, recorded as "reports of interviews" and "transferential impacts . The interpretation of those registers has enabled the production of two fields of affective-emotional sense, "trapped by appearance" and "talent, effort and expertise. The former is organized from the perception that physical characteristics, especially skin color, have instant impact on people, generating immediate reactions of judgment and evaluation that capture, classify, discriminate, put the person down and humiliate. The second field is defined by the belief that the development of personal skills can be a way to obtain recognition and respect. The overall picture indicates that racism is a present reality in the emotional experience of collective personhood under study, generating major impacts on their subjectivity and way of being. Therefore, it endorses the specific literature that points out that Brazilian society is not free of racism. It also shows that social mobility does not mean the end of discrimination, since the personhood collectively considered is not primarily affected by their social condition of poverty, social class or economic insecurity, but by their features and physical appearance. / O presente trabalho investiga os efeitos do racismo na experi?ncia emocional de negros brasileiros, que conheceram relativa ascens?o social. Justifica-se duplamente, tanto por visar trazer subs?dios te?ricos e pr?ticos para uma cl?nica dos sofrimentos sociais, como por buscar contribuir para aumentar a visibilidade social do fen?meno. Organiza-se como pesquisa emp?rica com o m?todo psicanal?tico, a partir de duas entrevistas individuais, registradas sob forma de Relatos de Entrevistas e de Textos de Impactos Transferenciais. A interpreta??o dos registros permitiu a produ??o de dois campos de sentido afetivo-emocional: aprisionado pela apar?ncia e com talento, esfor?o e compet?ncia . O primeiro organiza-se a partir da percep??o de que caracter?sticas f?sicas, notadamente a cor da pele, causam impacto instant?neo nas pessoas, gerando rea??es imediatas de julgamento e avalia??o que apreendem, classificam, discriminam, inferiorizam e humilham. O segundo campo se define pela cren?a de que o desenvolvimento de aptid?es pessoais pode ser um caminho para obten??o de reconhecimento e respeito. O quadro geral indica que o racismo ? uma realidade presente na experi?ncia emocional da pessoalidade coletiva estudada, gerando impactos importantes em sua subjetividade e modo de ser. Concorda, portanto, com a literatura que vem apontando que a sociedade brasileira n?o est? livre do racismo. Mostra tamb?m que a ascens?o social n?o implica o fim da discrimina??o, pois a pessoalidade coletiva considerada n?o ? atingida prioritariamente por sua condi??o social de pobreza, de classe ou de precariedade econ?mica, mas por seus tra?os e apar?ncia f?sica.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:30:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paula Costa de Andrada.pdf: 1726810 bytes, checksum: 682f76ad1afa95c69df7a4c4153a0f5f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-18 / This research investigated the potentiality of interventions that use artistic expressions to promote the awareness of teachers from public school education about their conditions of teaching and their role in education. Developed as an action of Educational Psychology, the proposal was constructed based on theoretical-methodological assumptions of cultural-historical Psychology by understanding that it provides support to the role of the psychologist in institutional settings. This study aimed to observe the extent to which an intervention that uses artistic modalities as mediators of the expressions of the subjects, supports teachers development, promoting awareness of themselves, of their professional role and commitment. The research consisted of two groups of teachers from two publics schools located in two cities in the countryside of S?o Paulo, Brazil. Our method is the Dialectical Materialism, which seeks to reveal the movement and contradictions in investigated phenomenon. The artistic expression which we worked with was circular dance. We used emotional experience and affective expressions to build our analysis based on the reflections of L.S. Vigotski. The results indicate that the negative affections are prevalent on teaching experience, characterized by the feeling of suffering experienced in different forms in the profession. However, dialectically, teachers also express positive affections regarding their profession, especially when they can see results and recognition from their work. We also verified that the use of circular dances as a mediator of the teachers affections proved to be a way to work with the intricate dynamics of relationships established in the schools. The data suggest that the dances with their gesture, choreography, movement and rhythm touch the sensitive dimension of teachers providing the reworking of their affective experience inside the school by the possibility of assigning new meanings and senses to their practice, to their lives and work conditions, and their role in education. / Esta pesquisa investigou a potencialidade de interven??es que se utilizam de express?es art?sticas na promo??o da tomada de consci?ncia de professores da rede p?blica de ensino sobre suas condi??es de doc?ncia e seu papel na educa??o. Desenvolvida como a??o da Psicologia Escolar, a proposta foi constru?da com base nos pressupostos te?rico-metodol?gicos da Psicologia Hist?rico-Cultural por entender que oferecem lastro para a atua??o do psic?logo em contextos institucionais. Objetivou-se observar em que medida uma interven??o que se utiliza de modalidades art?sticas como mediadoras das express?es dos sujeitos, constitui-se facilitadora do desenvolvimento dos professores, promovendo a tomada de consci?ncia de si, de seu papel e compromisso profissional. Foram sujeitos da pesquisa dois grupos de professores das redes municipal e estadual, de duas escolas localizadas em duas cidades do interior de S?o Paulo. Nosso m?todo ? o Materialismo Dial?tico, que busca desvelar o movimento e as contradi??es constituintes do fen?meno investigado e a express?o art?stica utilizada foi a dan?a circular. Utilizamos a viv?ncia como unidade de estudo e as express?es afetivas como indicadores de viv?ncia baseando-nos nas reflex?es de L.S. Vigotski. Os resultados apontam que os afetos negativos s?o prevalentes na viv?ncia da doc?ncia, caracterizada pelo sofrimento experimentado na profiss?o com diferentes contornos. Entretanto, dialeticamente, os professores tamb?m expressam afetos positivos em rela??o ao ensino que desenvolvem, sobretudo quando podem vislumbrar resultados e reconhecimento de seu trabalho. Verificamos, tamb?m, que a utiliza??o da dan?a circular como mediadora dos afetos dos professores mostrou-se um meio para se trabalhar a intricada din?mica de rela??es estabelecidas nas escolas. As informa??es apontam que a dan?a com seu gestual, coreografia, movimento e ritmo atinge a dimens?o sens?vel dos professores, favorecendo reelabora??es afetivas de sua viv?ncia dentro da escola pela possibilidade de atribui??o de novos significados e sentidos ? sua pr?tica, ?s suas condi??es de vida e trabalho e ao seu papel na educa??o escolar.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-06-30T12:35:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Jussana Ramos dos Santos.pdf: 1977075 bytes, checksum: 72575b0fa2b7b4d66d5d6503caa6ea3e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-30T12:35:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jussana Ramos dos Santos.pdf: 1977075 bytes, checksum: 72575b0fa2b7b4d66d5d6503caa6ea3e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-01-31 / Nenhuma / O estudo a seguir tem como objetivo discutir a contribuição do design estratégico, através do uso de cenários, para qualificar a experiência de candidatos interessados em cursar mestrado e que encontram-se no processo de busca de informações e escolha dos mesmos. Para tanto, resgata-se visões de alguns autores que abordam os principais temas, que são, design estratégico e design para experiência, cujo foco é a experiência emocional. Uma das principais abordagens discutidas na área de experiência emocional é a Teoria dos Appraisals (Desmet, 2002), que trata das emoções que resultam de avaliações (appraisals) através da interação das pessoas com produtos ou serviços. É com base nessa teoria que o método proposto neste estudo foi uma adaptação ao desenvolvido por Demir et al. (2009), cujo estudo envolveu emoções resultantes de avaliações (appraisals) na interação de usuários com produtos. Além disso, para a construção dos cenários, foi utilizada como base a metodologia proposta por Reyes (2011). Utilizou-se um roteiro com base na Teoria dos Appraisals para a realização de entrevistas em profundidade com 20 participantes. Resultados indicam que a ansiedade é uma das emoções presentes entre alunos que encontram-se nesse estágio. Por esse motivo é discutido o uso dos cenários experiencais como caminhos projetuais para a redução de tal experiência emocional. Os resultados apontam ainda que as conexões entre o papel da ansiedade e a compreensão das avaliações (appraisals) relacionados a essa emoção servem de base para apresentação de potenciais cenários experienciais como alternativas para qualificar a experiência dos envolvidos nesse processo. / This study discusses the contribution of strategic design, through the use of scenarios, to qualify the experience of subjects interested in master courses that are in the process of looking for information to choose their course. To do so, it is reviewed the perspective of some authors who work in the following areas: strategic design and experiential design, whose main focus is emotional experience. One of the main theoretical approaches discussed in the area of emotional experience is the Appraisal Theory (Desmet, 2002), which deals with emotions that result from appraisals made by an individual when interacting with a product or service. Based on this theory, the methodology proposed in this study is an adaptation of that developed by Demir et al. (2009), whose study evaluated the emotions resulting from appraisals of interaction between individuals and products. In addition, the methodology proposed by Reyes (2011) is employed to help construction of scenarios. Based on Appraisal Theory, a unstructured questionnaire was created to collect data from 20 subjects. Results indicate that anxiety is one emotion existent in subjects analyzed. Then, the experiential scenarios are discussed as potential ways of reducing such emotional experience. Thus, it is possible to confirm that the connections between anxiety and comprehension of appraisals serve as basis for presentation of potential experiential scenarios as alternatives to qualify the experience of people involved in this process.

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2016-11-08T16:36:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Andreia de Almeida Schulte.pdf: 2111700 bytes, checksum: 2a44db45354b0567120ec80b39e84e9d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-08T16:36:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andreia de Almeida Schulte.pdf: 2111700 bytes, checksum: 2a44db45354b0567120ec80b39e84e9d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-18 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / This research aims to investigate the experience of being a mother, justified by a view that motherhood can be considered nowadays as social suffering. This essay is structured as qualitative research and organized around the use of the psychoanalytical method. The investigated material is composed by ten posts available in personal blogs, signed by people who identify themselves as mothers. The consideration of these posts in a floating attention state allowed us the interpretative production of two affective-emotional fields: "Dedicating exclusively" and "Reconciling activities". The overall frame suggests that the connection between Maternity and Suffering is closely related to contemporaneity, which requires that the women continue experiencing motherhood as if it were her only mission and destiny and try to engage it with working life, trying to contribute to the financial aspects for the family support and / or also developing a meaningful career. Therefore, this is a situation that happens in different social classes within different cultural contexts also geopolitical situations and that affects not only women but the hole society. / A presente pesquisa objetiva investigar a experi?ncia de ser m?e, justificando-se por meio de uma perspectiva segundo a qual a maternidade pode ser considerada, na contemporaneidade, como sofrimento social. O trabalho se articula como pesquisa qualitativa, organizada ao redor do uso do m?todo psicanal?tico. O material investigado ? composto por um conjunto de dez postagens disponibilizadas em blogs pessoais, assinadas por pessoas que se identificam como m?es. Sua considera??o, em estado de aten??o flutuante, permitiu a produ??o interpretativa de dois campos de sentido afetivo-emocional ?Dedicando-se exclusivamente? e ?Conciliando atitidades?. O quadro geral sugere que a vincula??o entre maternidade e sofrimento est? intimamente ligada ? contemporaneidade, que exige que a mulher persista vivenciando a maternidade como se fosse sua ?nica miss?o e destino e se engaje na vida laboral, encarregando-se de contribuir financeiramente para o sustento familiar e/ou desenvolvendo uma carreira profissional significativa. Trata-se de uma situa??o que ocorre em diferentes classes sociais, em diferentes contextos culturais e em diferentes situa??es geopol?ticas e que afeta, n?o apenas a mulher, mas a todos.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), as defined by the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), is a multifaceted mental illness characterized by pervasive instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, affect and behavior. Despite a growing consensus that the etiological basis of BPD stems from a combination of biological vulnerability and an early developmental history characterized by invalidation, abuse and/or neglect (e.g., Clarkin, Marziali, & Munroe-Blum, 1991; Linehan, 1993), the reasons for the diversity of troubling symptoms (e.g., self-injury, suicidality, mood reactivity, relationship difficulties) remain unclear. Psychopathology theorists differ in their conceptualization of the fundamental problems (e.g., impulsivity vs. identity disturbance vs. emotion dysregulation) underlying BPD and further research is needed to clarify which features are central to the maintenance of the difficulties associated with the disorder. In the current research, the some of the tenets of Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory of BPD and the core constructs implicated in her conceptualization of the disorder were explored empirically in several samples of undergraduate university students. According to the biosocial theory, difficulties regulating emotions represent the core pathology in the disorder and contribute causally to the development and expression of all other BPD features. The emotional dysregulation is proposed to emerge from transactional interactions between individuals with biological vulnerabilities (i.e., a highly arousable temperament, sensitive to both positive and negative emotional stimuli) and specific environmental influences (i.e., a childhood environment that invalidates their emotional experience). The theory asserts that the dysregulation affects all aspects of emotional responding, resulting in (i) heightened emotional sensitivity, (ii) intense and more frequent responses to emotional stimuli, and (iii) slow return to emotional baseline. Furthermore, Linehan proposed that individuals with BPD lack clarity with respect to their emotions, have difficulties tolerating intense affect, and engage in maladaptive and inadequate emotion modulation strategies. As a result of their dysfunctional response patterns during emotionally challenging events , individuals with BPD fail to learn how to solve the problems contributing to these emotional reactions. In accordance with this theory, a number of hypotheses were tested. First, it was hypothesized that the interaction between temperamental sensitivity and an adverse childhood environment would predict BPD features over and above that predicted by either construct independently. Second, it was hypothesized that BPD traits would be predicted by high levels of emotional dysregulation (affect lability), problems across different aspects of emotional experience (e.g., intensity, awareness, clarity), and deficits in emotion regulation skills (e.g., poor distress tolerance, self-soothing). Based on the initial findings of the research, a series of competing hypotheses were tested that addressed the nature of the emotional, cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may underlie maladaptive behavior in BPD more directly. Prior to testing these hypotheses, it was important to select a set of measures that would best represent these constructs within an undergraduate population. The purpose of Studies 1a and 1b (N = 147 and N = 56, respectively) was to determine the reliability and validity of a series of self-report measures that assess BPD features and to select one questionnaire with high sensitivity (percentage of cases correctly identified) and high specificity (percentage of noncases correctly identified) as a screener for BPD within undergraduate students by comparing the results of the questionnaires against a “gold standard” criterion diagnosis of BPD (as assessed by two semi-structured interviews: DIB-R and IPDE-I). The second goal of these studies was to conduct a preliminary exploratory analysis of the association of scores on the BPD measures and constructs that have been hypothesized to be relevant to the development and maintenance of BPD symptoms (e.g., “Big Five” personality factors, emotional experience, impulsivity). Overall, the findings of Studies 1a and 1b indicated that screening for BPD in an undergraduate population is feasible and there are several questionnaires that may help in the identification of participants for future studies. Specifically, the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD; Zanarini et al., 2003), International Personality Disorder Examination DSM-IV Screening Questionnaire (IPDE-S; Loranger, 1999) and Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ; Poreh et al., 2006) were all found to be internally consistent and valid screening measures. Furthermore, the results of correlation and regression analyses between dimensions of the “Big Five” and scores on the BPD measures were consistent with previous findings in the literature that BPD is associated with higher scores on neuroticism, lower scores on agreeableness, and to a lesser degree, lower scores on conscientiousness and extraversion. The similarity in results between the current and past studies suggested that individuals in the present samples showed characteristics consistent with that seen in both clinical and nonclinical populations with BPD traits. The results also provided support for the notion that individuals with BPD have a lower threshold (i.e., greater sensitivity) for both sensory and affective stimuli, as well as higher amplitude of emotional response (i.e., greater reactivity) to such stimuli. Furthermore, the findings suggested that those with BPD traits may lack understanding of their emotional state, may be unable to effectively regulate their emotional state, and that their impulsive behavior may be driven by negative affect. The purpose of Study 2 (N = 225) was to test some of the specific tenets of Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory. The results suggested that BPD traits are associated with numerous dimensions of temperament [e.g., higher levels of negative affect; lower levels of positive affect; lower levels of effortful control; low sensory threshold (i.e., greater sensitivity) for both sensory and affective stimuli; ease of excitation (i.e., greater reactivity to sensory and affective stimuli)] and childhood environment (e.g., authoritarian parenting style, invalidating parenting, neglect, abuse). An examination of the interactions between dimensions of temperament and childhood environment suggested that interactions between (i) ease of excitation (greater reactivity to sensory and affective stimuli) and environment and (ii) trait negative affect and environment, predicted BPD symptoms over and above the temperament and environment variables alone. The results also suggested that a number of other factors are associated with BPD symptoms, including: increased attention to (or absorption in) emotional states, poor emotional clarity, affect lability (particularly anger), poor distress tolerance, and negative urgency (impulsive behavior in the context of negative affect). The association between BPD symptoms and difficulties identifying feelings seemed to be mediated by affect lability and negative urgency. Self-soothing and self-attacking did not predict BPD traits over and above the other variables. Wagner and Linehan (1999) also proposed that the intense emotions (and emotional dysregulation) experienced by those with BPD interferes with cognitive functioning and effective problem solving, resulting in poor decisions and the observed harmful behaviors. Other researchers have suggested that the repetitive, self-damaging behavior occurring in the context of BPD may reflect impairments in planning and failure to consider future consequences (e.g., van Reekum et al., 1994). Proponents of this view suggest that individuals with BPD show greater intensity and lability in their emotional response to their environment because they are unable to inhibit or moderate their emotional urges (i.e., impulsivity is at the core of the disorder). The purpose of Study 3 (N = 220) was to characterize decision making in an undergraduate sample of individuals with BPD traits and to ascertain the relative contribution of individual differences in the following areas to any deficits identified in decision making: emotional experience (e.g., increased affective reactivity or lability); reinforcement sensitivity (e.g., sensitivity to reward and/or punishment); impulsivity; executive functioning (measured by an analogue version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test); and reversal learning. Decision making was assessed using modified versions of two Iowa Gambling Tasks (IGT-ABCD and IGT-EFGH; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994; Bechara, Tranel, & Damasio, 2000) that included reversal learning components (i.e., Turnbull et al., 2006). The results of Study 3 showed that participants in the BPD group demonstrated deficits in decision-making as measured by the IGT-ABCD but not on the IGT-EFGH. The results [interpreted in the context of reinforcement sensitivity models, the somatic marker hypothesis (Damasio, 1994) and the “frequency of gain” model e.g., Chiu et al. 2008)] suggested that decision making under uncertainty may be guided by gain-loss frequency rather than long-term outcome for individuals with BPD traits. The results failed to show consistent associations between BPD symptoms and performance on either version of the IGT. Individual differences in emotional experience, executive functioning or reversal learning did not account for the decision-making problems of the BPD group on the IGT-ABCD.

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