Quality of Life and Positive and Negative Affect in the Personality Disorder

Abstract

Background: Recovery from psychopathology in patients with personality disorder (PD) after the therapeutic intervention is not necessarily accompanied by an increase in their quality of life. This phenomenon can be understood from a bifactorial model of affect and challenges our therapeutic design to focus on recovery. Method: In a sample of severe PD, we evaluate emotional and clinical variables before (N = 414) and after (N = 247) a 6-month intervention program. Results: The level of emotion intensity influences the association between positive and negative affect (PA and NA; p < .0001). Patients with a “self-constructive” affective profile improve more in PA than in NA ( p = .008). Conclusions: The specific promotion of PA, applied in a phase in which the person experiences less negative emotional reactivity, could improve satisfaction with life and psychosocial functioning of PD patients.

Keywords

• quality of life
• positive affect
• negative affect
• personality disorder
• treatment outcome
• recovery
• psychosocial functioning
• satisfaction with life