What Is Maladaptive in the Emotion Regulation of Personality Pathology? Investigating the Regulation Patterns of Pathological Personality Profiles.

INTRODUCTION

Maladaptive personality traits are viewed as risk factors for personality pathology and are predictive of poor psychological and interpersonal functioning. The study of pathological personality traits has gained increasing popularity, but our knowledge on their association with emotion regulation (ER) processes is limited.

METHODS

The present cross-sectional study investigated how pathological profiles relate to the regular and contextual selection and subjective effectiveness of a variety of ER strategies based on the Process Model and the Cognitive ER Questionnaire. Participants (N = 412, M age = 22.87) completed measures of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5, and habitual ER use and effectiveness, and ER use in hypothetical scenarios.

RESULTS

Four profiles were obtained using Latent Profile Analysis, which differed in their ER patterns. The Resilient and Undercontrolled profiles consistently favored more adaptive strategies (such as Acceptance and Planning) and rated them as effective. The Anti-resilient group employed less adaptive strategies (such as Rumination), regularly and in different contexts, and tended to consider them more effective. The Overcontrolled profile showed a mixed pattern, relying on adaptive and maladaptive strategies, with a tendency to perceive adaptive strategies as less effective.

CONCLUSION

Our findings document the regulation patterns of pathological profiles and offer a more nuanced understanding of their emotion regulation processes on a regular and situational basis.