Grant: Project Grant

Suicidal behavior and self-injury (SSI) in borderline personality disorder (BPD) is often prompted by relationship problems, but it is unclear how intimate partners of those with BPD influence SSI. Such information is key to understand whether and how incorporating partners into BPD treatments may help reduce SSI. We aim to study the ways that intimate partners talk to those with BPD in general and about SSI, and immediately respond to SSI, that predict a higher or lower likelihood of it happening again. First, we will examine if individuals with BPD and their intimate partner's communication in general and about SSI specifically interplays with their emotion to predict SSI. Next, we will identify how intimate partners immediately respond to SSI in those with BPD, and whether specific types of responses make it more or less likely to recur. Finally, we will develop a new method of measuring how intimate partners immediately respond to SSI in those with BPD. 250 people with BPD who engage in SSI and their intimate partners will complete measures negative emotion, general and SSI-specific communication, and SSI once every three months for a year (four times total), and on their smartphones ~5 times per day for 30 days. On their smart phones, intimate partners will also describe how they immediately respond to SSI, and the first 20 intimate partners will further describe this in an interview. These responses will be used to categorize types of immediate responses to SSI so that we can examine which types predict a higher or lower likelihood of SSI happening again. A questionnaire measuring types of immediate responses will also be developed based on smart phone and interview data, which will be evaluated in our sample. Findings will provide critical information about what partners should do or not do to reduce SSI in those with BPD. They will also guide future research on BPD and SSI by providing a new measure of immediate responses to SSI in intimate partners.