Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

DeShong, Hilary L.

Committee Member

Dozier, Mary E.

Committee Member

Winer, E. Samuel

Date of Degree

12-10-2021

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Components of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) include emotion and cognitive dysregulation. The Emotional Cascade Model (Selby & Joiner, 2009; Selby et al., 2009) suggests negative affect and the cognitive process of rumination could be interchangeably increasing over time, leading to maladaptive behaviors. The current study evaluated negative thinking styles (i.e., anger rumination, sadness rumination, worry, catastrophizing) and thought control strategies (i.e., brooding, reflection, thought suppression) in relation to BPD traits using path analyses in a college student sample (N = 204). Results indicated anger rumination, sadness rumination, and worry indirectly predicted BPD traits through thought suppression, brooding, and reflection. However, catastrophizing did not directly predict any variable. Furthermore, reflection negatively and indirectly predicted BPD traits, while thought suppression and brooding had a positive and indirect effect on BPD traits. Understanding cognitions more in-depth could be influential in the assessment and treatment of BPD. Strengths, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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