Studying the Role of Anxiety and Depression in Predicting the Characteristics of Borderline Personality Disorder with Psychological Pain Modulator

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the moderating effect of mental pain on the association between depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder. This study was descriptive and correlational in nature. The statistical population of this research consisted of all students at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran in 2021, and the random sample consisted of 310 men and women. Participants completed the Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Mental Pain Scale (OMMP), and Personality Assessment Index-Characteristics of Borderline Personality Disorder (PAI-BOR). Hierarchically examined data were subjected to multiple regression analysis using SPSS-26 software. The results showed that the variables of anxiety, depression, and mental anguish accurately predict the characteristics of borderline personality disorder. In addition, the interaction between the variables of depression and psychological distress is predictive of borderline personality disorder characteristics. There was no significant interaction between psychological discomfort and anxiety. Therefore, psychological distress has a moderating effect on the relationship between depression and borderline personality disorder characteristics. According to the results, it is explained that the higher experience of mental pain is a result of not satisfying inner and interpersonal needs, and that less satisfaction causes the individual to have a more negative self-image and more negative emotions, or, in other words, more psychological pain. In addition, high levels of psychological distress are associated with elevated levels of borderline personality disorder characteristics, such as emotional instability, identity disorder, and self-harm.

Keywords

• anxiety
• borderline personality
• depression
• mental pain