{
    "ok": true,
    "doi": "10.7759\/cureus.102953",
    "status": "found",
    "title": "Emotional Dysregulation as a Mediator Between Childhood Adversity and Negative Urgency in Borderline Personality Disorder",
    "authors": [
        "Poojitha Konda Reddy",
        "Kancharla Suresh Reddy",
        "Gunde Surekha",
        "Madhu Vamsi Ganduri",
        "Kacham R Mohana",
        "Azra Fatima",
        "Nidhi R",
        "Khande P Kumar",
        "Amulya Arremsetty",
        "Akhileshwar V Reddy"
    ],
    "container": "Cureus",
    "year": "2026",
    "doi_url": "https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7759\/cureus.102953",
    "is_open_access": true,
    "oa_status": "diamond",
    "best_landing_page": "https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/41798579",
    "best_pdf": "https:\/\/www.cureus.com\/articles\/421882-emotional-dysregulation-as-a-mediator-between-childhood-adversity-and-negative-urgency-in-borderline-personality-disorder.pdf",
    "abstract": "BACKGROUND: The biosocial theory of borderline personality disorder (BPD) posits that emotional dysregulation develops from the transaction between a biological vulnerability and an invalidating environment (e.g., childhood adversity), and in turn leads to behavioral dyscontrol. This study aimed to empirically test this core mechanistic pathway in a non-Western clinical sample. METHODS: We hypothesized that the relationship between childhood adversity and the hallmark BPD trait of negative urgency (acting impulsively when distressed) would be mediated by difficulties in emotion regulation. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 45 adult patients with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) diagnosis of BPD in Hyderabad, India. Participants completed the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA-Q), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Short Form (DERS-SF), and the Short UPPS-P (urgency, premeditation, perseverance, sensation seeking, and positive urgency) Impulsive Behaviour Scale. A bootstrapping-based mediation analysis (Hayes' PROCESS Model 4) was used to test the hypothesized indirect effect. RESULTS: The analysis revealed a significant indirect effect of childhood adversity on negative urgency through emotional dysregulation (Indirect Effect = 0.31, 95% bootstrapped CI: 0.14, 0.52). The direct effect of childhood adversity on negative urgency, which was significant in the initial correlation, became non-significant (B = 0.08, p = 0.450) after accounting for the mediator. This pattern is consistent with full mediation. CONCLUSION: This study provides strong, mechanism-based support for the biosocial model of BPD in an under-researched Indian context. The findings demonstrate that the pathogenic impact of childhood adversity on emotion-based impulsivity is explained by its disruption of emotion regulation capacities. This offers a clear empirical rationale for prioritizing emotion regulation-focused psychotherapies, such as dialectical behavior therapy, as the primary treatment approach for BPD.",
    "abstract_notice": null,
    "locations": [
        {
            "source": "Cureus",
            "landing_page_url": "https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7759\/cureus.102953",
            "pdf_url": "https:\/\/www.cureus.com\/articles\/421882-emotional-dysregulation-as-a-mediator-between-childhood-adversity-and-negative-urgency-in-borderline-personality-disorder.pdf",
            "is_oa": true,
            "version": "publishedVersion"
        },
        {
            "source": "PubMed",
            "landing_page_url": "https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/41798579",
            "pdf_url": null,
            "is_oa": false,
            "version": "publishedVersion"
        },
        {
            "source": "PubMed Central",
            "landing_page_url": "https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC12965186\/",
            "pdf_url": "https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC12965186\/pdf\/cureus-0018-00000102953.pdf",
            "is_oa": true,
            "version": "submittedVersion"
        }
    ],
    "crossref_links": [
        {
            "url": "https:\/\/www.cureus.com\/articles\/421882-emotional-dysregulation-as-a-mediator-between-childhood-adversity-and-negative-urgency-in-borderline-personality-disorder",
            "content_type": "unspecified",
            "version": "vor",
            "intended_application": "similarity-checking"
        }
    ],
    "pubmed_search": "https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/?term=10.7759%2Fcureus.102953",
    "google_scholar": "https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?q=Emotional%20Dysregulation%20as%20a%20Mediator%20Between%20Childhood%20Adversity%20and%20Negative%20Urgency%20in%20Borderline%20Personality%20Disorder"
}