Attachment and Borderline Personality Disorder: Differential Effects on Situational Socio-Affective Processes

Insecure attachment and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are defined by similar affective and interpersonal processes. Individuals diagnosed with BPD, however, represent only a subset of those described as insecurely attached, suggesting that attachment may hold broader relevance for socio-affective functioning. Based on a 21-day ecological momentary assessment protocol in a mixed clinical and community sample (N=207) oversampled for BPD, we demonstrate the discriminant validity of each construct as it influences daily interpersonal interactions. We illustrate how insecure attachment is associated with elevated perceptions of interpersonal disaffiliation and maladaptive strategies for affect regulation, whereas enacted interpersonal hostility is more distinctive for BPD. We further highlight potential caveats, when studying both constructs concurrently. Together, our results suggest that both contribute to problematic affective and interpersonal processes, but that they do so at different stages of the unfolding social interaction, which has important implications for the maintenance and treatment of these constructs.