APA Citation
Ebner-Priemer, U., Houben, M., Santangelo, P., Kleindienst, N., Tuerlinckx, F., Oravecz, Z., Verleysen, G., Van Deun, K., Bohus, M., & Kuppens, P. (2015). Unraveling affective dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: A theoretical model and empirical evidence. *Journal of Abnormal Psychology*, 124(1), 186-198. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000021
Summary
This study examined affective dysregulation in borderline personality disorder (BPD) using sophisticated momentary assessment methods. Researchers found that people with BPD don't just experience more intense emotions—they experience greater emotional variability, faster shifts between emotional states, and less predictable emotional patterns. The dysregulation isn't just intensity but instability: emotions change rapidly, unpredictably, and in ways that don't follow normal patterns.
Why This Matters for Survivors
Understanding BPD's emotional dynamics helps explain the "walking on eggshells" experience common in relationships with emotionally dysregulated individuals. While this research focuses on BPD, the findings illuminate what makes certain people so unpredictable: it's not just that they feel strongly but that their emotions change rapidly and unpredictably. This validates the disorientation you may have experienced.
What This Research Establishes
BPD involves distinctive emotional patterns. Not just intense emotions but rapid variability, unpredictable shifts, and irregular patterns characterize BPD emotional experience. The dysregulation is in the pattern, not just the intensity.
Momentary assessment reveals real-time dynamics. By capturing emotional states multiple times daily, researchers could see patterns invisible to retrospective methods. This revealed the rapid, unpredictable quality of BPD emotions.
Variability itself is a key feature. The rate and unpredictability of emotional change distinguish BPD from other conditions. This explains why living with someone with BPD feels so disorienting—it’s not just that they feel strongly but that their states shift rapidly and unpredictably.
These patterns can be measured. Sophisticated methodology can capture the affective instability characteristic of BPD, advancing both research understanding and potential for treatment monitoring.
Why This Matters for Survivors
Understanding the unpredictability you experienced. If you lived with someone whose emotions shifted rapidly and without apparent cause, this research validates your experience. The unpredictability is a feature of the condition, not something you caused.
It’s the pattern, not just the intensity. Understanding that BPD involves not just strong emotions but unstable patterns helps explain why the person seemed to change so dramatically and so quickly. The shifts are characteristic, not random.
Reducing self-blame. If you tried to manage someone’s emotions and failed, understanding that their emotional patterns were genuinely dysregulated—rapid, unpredictable, not following normal patterns—helps you see that the problem wasn’t your inadequacy.
Distinguishing BPD from NPD. While both create difficult relationships, BPD’s rapid emotional shifts differ from NPD’s more stable (though problematic) emotional patterns. Understanding these differences helps clarify what you experienced.
Clinical Implications
Assess emotional pattern, not just intensity. Clinical assessment should examine the variability and predictability of emotions, not just their intensity. Momentary assessment methods can capture dynamics that retrospective reports miss.
Target dysregulation specifically. Treatments should address the variability and instability of emotions, not just their intensity. DBT’s focus on distress tolerance and emotion regulation targets these patterns.
Educate about pattern characteristics. Help patients and families understand that BPD emotional dysregulation involves distinctive patterns—rapid shifts, unpredictability—not just strong feelings. This understanding supports realistic expectations.
Use momentary assessment clinically. The technology used in research can support clinical monitoring—tracking emotional patterns in real time to assess progress and identify triggers.
How This Research Is Used in the Book
Ebner-Priemer et al.’s dysregulation research appears in chapters on Cluster B overlap:
“Research using real-time emotional monitoring reveals what makes borderline emotional dysregulation so disorienting: it’s not just that emotions are intense but that they shift rapidly and unpredictably. The person may be adoring, then rageful, then despairing within hours. This validated your ‘walking on eggshells’ experience—the unpredictability was characteristic of their condition, not caused by your behavior.”
Historical Context
This 2015 study applied advanced ambulatory assessment technology to questions about BPD that had been studied for decades. Marsha Linehan’s influential model emphasized emotional dysregulation as core to BPD; this research specified what that dysregulation looks like in real time.
The momentary assessment approach—capturing emotional states multiple times daily via electronic devices—revealed patterns invisible to traditional methods. The finding that variability itself (not just intensity) characterizes BPD has influenced both research and clinical understanding of the disorder.
Further Reading
- Linehan, M.M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. Guilford Press.
- Trull, T.J., et al. (2008). Affective instability: Measuring a core feature of borderline personality disorder with ecological momentary assessment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117(3), 647-661.
- Carpenter, R.W., & Trull, T.J. (2013). Components of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder: A review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15(1), 335.
- Glenn, C.R., & Klonsky, E.D. (2009). Emotion dysregulation as a core feature of borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders, 23(1), 20-28.
About the Author
Ulrich W. Ebner-Priemer, PhD is Professor of Applied Psychology at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, specializing in ambulatory assessment methods for studying real-time psychological processes. His research has advanced understanding of emotional dynamics in personality disorders.
This international team used cutting-edge methodology to capture the real-time emotional experience of BPD, moving beyond retrospective self-report to moment-to-moment assessment.
Historical Context
This 2015 study applied sophisticated ambulatory assessment technology to long-standing questions about BPD emotional dysregulation. Previous research relied on retrospective reports; this study captured emotional states multiple times daily, revealing patterns invisible to traditional methods.
Frequently Asked Questions
Affective dysregulation means difficulty regulating emotions—experiencing emotions that are too intense, too rapid-shifting, or insufficiently controlled. In BPD, dysregulation involves not just intensity but instability: emotions change quickly, unpredictably, and don't follow normal patterns.
Everyone's mood varies. In BPD, emotions change more rapidly, shift more dramatically, and follow less predictable patterns. The variability itself is dysregulated—not just the emotions but the pattern of their change.
Participants reported their emotional states multiple times daily via electronic devices. This 'momentary assessment' captured real-time emotion rather than retrospective memory. Sophisticated statistical methods revealed patterns of variability and instability.
Living with emotionally dysregulated individuals means constant uncertainty—you can't predict their emotional state or what will trigger shifts. Understanding that this unpredictability is characteristic of the condition (not caused by you) helps make sense of the 'walking on eggshells' experience.
BPD involves rapid, unpredictable emotional shifts—the person may be adoring, then rageful, then despairing in quick succession. NPD involves more stable emotional patterns focused on maintaining self-esteem—rage when threatened, idealization when gratified. Both create difficulties but through different mechanisms.
Yes. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) specifically targets emotional dysregulation with skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Other treatments also address dysregulation. Change is possible with appropriate treatment.
Multiple factors: biological temperament (innate emotional reactivity), invalidating early environments (emotions weren't acknowledged or were punished), trauma (disrupting emotional development), and learned patterns. Treatment can address these despite their origins.
Knowing that their emotional unpredictability was a characteristic of their condition—not your behavior causing it—reduces self-blame. Understanding the pattern as clinical rather than personal helps you make sense of experiences that felt chaotic and confusing.