The present study examined relationships among negative affect, borderline personality features, and eating behavior through the experimental manipulation of mood. Undergraduate women (N=307) completed a baseline mood assessment, viewed a 39-minute sad film either with or without concurrent food presentation, then completed a second mood assessment and questionnaires assessing personality and eating attitudes/behaviors. Women reporting more borderline personality features exhibited greater negative affect across time and were more reactive to the sad film. Food presentation appeared to have a small ameliorative effect on sadness and general negative affect. However, quantity of food consumption was associated with improvements in mood only for women reporting higher levels of borderline personality features. These data suggest that women with borderline personality characteristics may be at elevated risk for developing problems with binge eating, because consuming larger quantities of food appeared to have a tempering effect on their negative mood and feelings of sadness.

Ambwani, Suman and Leslie C. Morey. Food Consumption as Affect Modulation in Borderline Personality. Journal of Personality Disorders 29, no. 2 (2015): 261-274. https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/pedi_2013_27_087

Suman Ambwani is a professor of Psychology at Dickinson College.

This published version is made available on Dickinson Scholar with the permission of the publisher. For more information on the published version, visit Guilford Press's Website. https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/pedi_2013_27_087
© 2015 by Guilford Press. Reprinted with permission of The Guilford Press

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