Citation

Chugani CD, Byrd AL, Pedersen SL, Chung T, Hipwell AE, Stepp SD. J. Personal. Disord. 2018; ePub(ePub): 1-12.

Affiliation

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Guilford Publications)

DOI

10.1521/pedi_2018_32_389

PMID

30179582

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and alcohol use disorder often co-occur, yet we know little about risk processes underlying this association. We tested two mechanistic pathways linking BPD symptoms and alcohol-related problems. In the "affective pathway," we hypothesized that BPD symptoms would be associated with alcohol-related problems through affective instability and drinking to cope. In the "sensation-seeking pathway," we proposed that BPD symptoms would be related to alcohol-related problems through sensation seeking and drinking to enhance positive experiences. We tested a multiple mediation model using age-18 cross-sectional data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study.

RESULTS supported both pathways: BPD symptoms had an indirect effect on alcohol-related problems by (1) affective instability and coping motives (β =.03, p <.05), and (2) sensation-seeking and enhancement motives (β =.02, p <.05). These results highlight coping and enhancement drinking motives as possible mechanisms that explain co-occurrence of BPD symptoms and alcohol-related problems in young females.

Language: en

Keywords

alcohol-related problems; borderline personality disorder; coping motives; enhancement motives; pathways to alcohol problems