Anna Thompson's starving children: Emotion regulation and verbal memory in borderline personality disorder

To date, a relatively small body of neuropsychological research has focused on individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Findings vary across studies, with many noting problems with various aspects of impulsivity, attention, and memory. Only one previous study has examined the impact of emotional dysregulation on cognitive processes in this population. Given that problems with modulating emotions are one of the hallmark signs of BPD, the interaction between emotions and cognitive processes seems a crucial consideration in working with individuals with this disorder. The current study examined the relationship between performance on a standard measure of verbal memory, the Logical Memory (LM) portion of the Wechsler Memory Scale, 3rd Edition (WMS-III, Wechsler, 1997b), and emotion regulation, as measured by the Affective Control Scale (Williams, Chambless, & Ahrens, 1997) in a sample of 56 outpatients with BPD. No relationship was noted between level of emotional dysregulation and performance on LM. A manipulation check with 15 inpatients with BPD or BPD features indicated that Story A (Anna Thompson) was rated as more emotionally intense than Story B (Joe Garcia), even when stories were counterbalanced for order of presentation. Results suggested that individuals with BPD have better memory for emotionally evocative stories than for those with a more neutral content, whether the stories are presented in standardized order or are counterbalanced. However, when differential performance for the two stories in the BPD group was compared to performance by a group of healthy controls (n = 38), the same pattern of better performance for the Anna Thompson story was noted. Controls earned scores above the BPD group across LM immediate and delayed recall and recognition. A trend was noted for a positive relationship between a simple measure of attention and immediate recall of the stories but not for delay. No relationship was found between current level of depression and story recall. Results are discussed in terms of implications for therapy and assessment in the BPD population.