The main aim of this study is to better understand chronic parasuicide in BPD in order to identify specific emotions to target in treatment. Primary emotions will be identified that increase the risk for repeated parasuicide and reduce treatment effectiveness in a chronically and acutely parasuicidal BPD sample. Nonverbal expressions that occur when parasuicide is discussed will be measured. It will be tested which primary emotions are elicited and predict the repetition of parasuicide. The main hypothesis, that in this context patients showing high negative emotions will be more likely to repeat parasuicide, will be tested using a survival analysis model. This study will provide feasible methods for assessing risk for parasuicide and will provide direction for future treatment research. It is essential that basic research such as this be used to develop better treatments for chronic parasuicide in BPD since it is such a serious public health problem, incurring substantial costs both in terms of intense suffering and substantial service utilization. To date, however, there are few treatments with demonstrated efficacy.
| Brown, Milton Z; Linehan, Marsha M; Comtois, Kathryn Anne et al. (2009) Shame as a prospective predictor of self-inflicted injury in borderline personality disorder: a multi-modal analysis. Behav Res Ther 47:815-22 |
