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Facial emotional expression in reaction to social exclusion in borderline personality disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2011

K. Staebler ,
B. Renneberg ,
M. Stopsack ,
P. Fiedler ,
M. Weiler  and
S. Roepke
K. Staebler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
B. Renneberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
M. Stopsack
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
P. Fiedler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany
M. Weiler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
S. Roepke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Germany Cluster of Excellence Languages of Emotion, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
*
*Address for correspondence: Prof. Dr B. Renneberg, Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Disturbances in social interaction are a defining feature of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this study, facial emotional expressions, which are crucial for adaptive interactions in social contexts, were assessed in patients with BPD in response to social exclusion.

Method

We examined facial emotional reactions of 35 patients with BPD and 33 healthy controls when playing Cyberball, a virtual ball-tossing game that reliably induces social exclusion. Besides self-reported emotional responses, facial emotional expressions were analyzed by applying the Emotional Facial Action Coding System (EMFACS).

Results

Patients with BPD showed a biased perception of participation. They more readily reported feeling excluded compared to controls even when they were included. In BPD, social exclusion led to an increase in self-reported other-focused negative emotions. Overall, EMFACS analyses revealed that BPD patients reacted with fewer positive expressions and with significantly more mixed emotional expressions (two emotional facial expressions at the same time) compared to the healthy control group when excluded.

Conclusions

Besides a negative bias for perceived social participation, ambiguous facial emotional expressions may play an important role in the disturbed relatedness in patients with BPD.

Keywords

Borderline personality disorderCyberballemotional reactionfacial expressionsocial exclusion
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 9 , September 2011 , pp. 1929 - 1938
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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