scholarly journals Peer Review #2 of "Social cognition and social functioning in people with borderline personality disorder and their first-degree relatives (v0.1)"

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10212
Author(s):  
Esther Ortega-Díaz ◽  
Jonatan García-Campos ◽  
José María Rico-Gomis ◽  
Carlos Cuesta-Moreno ◽  
Antonio Palazón-Bru ◽  
...  

Background A few papers studying healthy, first-degree relatives of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have found that this group presents attention and memory problems. However, current research has not analyzed their social cognition. Materials and Methods We designed an age-, gender- and education-level matched case-control study involving 57 people with BPD, 32 of their first-degree relatives, and 57 healthy controls in Spain in 2018–2019. All were assessed for social cognition and functioning using the Movie for Assessment of Social Cognition and the Social Functioning Scale; other potential confounders were also collected (marital status, occupation and household variables). Results There were differences in the social cognition domain of overmentalizing errors, with the BPD group scoring significantly higher than controls; however, there was no significant difference with relatives; in the social functioning domain of family relationships, with the controls showing the highest scores. Social engagement/withdrawal, interpersonal behavior, independence-competence, prosocial activities, full scale and categorization domains showed the same pattern: the BPD group had lower scores than their relatives and the controls. Relatives were significantly different from BPD patients in family relationships, social engagement/withdrawal and interpersonal behavior, as well as on the full Social Functioning Scale (both as a linear and categorical variable). However, only controls showed differences with relatives in family relationships. Conclusions All in all, relatives show similar levels of social cognition and functioning compared with controls, and people with BPD show some alterations in different domains of both social cognition and functioning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 229 (3) ◽  
pp. 872-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Andreou ◽  
Lea Kelm ◽  
Julia Bierbrodt ◽  
Vivien Braun ◽  
Michael Lipp ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eivind Normann-Eide ◽  
Bj⊘rnar Torske Antonsen ◽  
Elfrida Hartveit Kvarstein ◽  
Geir Pedersen ◽  
Anja Vaskinn ◽  
...  

Impaired theory of mind (ToM) is an assumed feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, no studies have compared ToM abilities in patients with BPD, other personality disorders, and healthy controls, or investigated the relationship between ToM and severity of psychopathology and interpersonal problems. In this study, ToM was investigated by the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition. No differences were found between the three groups in overall ToM abilities. The BPD group was, however, characterized by more excessive ToM (interpreted as hypermentalization). Yet, when differentiating between BPD and further severity indicators, excessive ToM was not specifically associated with a BPD diagnosis per se. Finally, there was a moderate association between hypermentalization and interpersonal problems in the BPD group. This study suggests that BPD patients tend to hypermentalize when they misinterpret social information, and that this tendency is related to the severity of their psychopathology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Domes ◽  
Nicole Ower ◽  
Bernadette von Dawans ◽  
Franny B. Spengler ◽  
Isabel Dziobek ◽  
...  

AbstractBorderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by severe interpersonal dysfunction with problems in social cognition, empathy and social approach. Although the neuropeptide oxytocin is known to regulate complex social cognition and behavior in healthy individuals and clinical populations, there is still a lack of evidence for a potential beneficial effect of oxytocin administration on social cognition and social approach in BPD. Fifty-one women with BPD and 51 matched healthy controls were randomized to a double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-subject experimental trial. We administered a single dose of 24 IU oxytocin or placebo intranasally prior to a standardized task measuring affective and cognitive empathy and approach motivation. All participants were free of hormonal contraception and tested in the mid-luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. In the placebo condition, patients with BPD showed reduced cognitive and affective empathy, and less approach behavior motivation than healthy controls. Intranasal oxytocin significantly increased affective empathy and approach motivation in both BPD patients and healthy controls compared to placebo. More importantly, oxytocin administration led to similar scores between BPD and healthy controls. These findings provide the first evidence for a beneficial effect of oxytocin on deficits in affective empathy and approach motivation of BPD. Our results indicate a beneficial effect of a single dose of oxytocin on affective empathy and approach motivation in women with BPD adapting their level of social functioning to healthy controls. Future clinical trials will need to investigate the long-term effects and effectiveness of oxytocin as an add-on treatment for social impairments in BPD.


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