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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Sleep
Sec. Sleep, Behavior and Mental Health
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frsle.2024.1394979
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Sleep, Behavior and Mental Health: Volume II View all 3 articles

Sleep quality and emotional reactivity in patients with borderline personality disorder

Provisionally accepted
Valentina Socci Valentina Socci 1Fabiana Festucci Fabiana Festucci 1Tommaso Barlattani Tommaso Barlattani 1Federico Salfi Federico Salfi 2Giulia D'Aurizio Giulia D'Aurizio 1Rodolfo Rossi Rodolfo Rossi 3Michele Ferrara Michele Ferrara 1Alessandro Rossi Alessandro Rossi 1Francesca Pacitti Francesca Pacitti 1Daniela Tempesta Daniela Tempesta 1*
  • 1 University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
  • 2 Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy
  • 3 University of Rome Tor Vergata, Roma, Lazio, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background/objective: Emotional dysregulation is bidirectionally associated with sleep disturbances, with potential critical implications for emotional reactivity in borderline personality disorder (BPD). This study evaluated subjective and objective sleep quality, emotional regulation and emotional reactivity in 20 patients with BPD compared to 20 non-clinical individuals.Methods: Subjective and objective sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a 3-day actigraphic measurement. Emotional regulation was evaluated using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ). Further, each participant underwent an emotional reactivity task selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS).Results: Compared to control subjects, individuals with BPD reported poor subjective sleep quality and objective sleep continuity disturbances with more sleep fragmentation and decreased sleep efficiency. Moreover, BPD patients showed emotional dysregulation and altered subjective reactivity to emotional stimuli, particularly positively-valenced stimuli.These results suggest the importance of further clarifying the specific direction of sleepdependent emotional modulation in individuals with BPD, with significant clinical implications for patients with co-occurring sleep disturbances.

    Keywords: Borderline Personality Disorder, Sleep disturbances, sleep quality, Emotion Regulation, emotional reactivity

    Received: 02 Mar 2024; Accepted: 02 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Socci, Festucci, Barlattani, Salfi, D'Aurizio, Rossi, Ferrara, Rossi, Pacitti and Tempesta. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Daniela Tempesta, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.