Shame-proneness mediates relations between borderline personality disorder symptom severity and domains of sexuality in undergraduate women

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by instability in affect, interpersonal relationships, and impulsivity ( APA, 2013 ); individuals with BPD have elevated shame-proneness ( Scheel et al., 2013 ), including higher baseline levels of ( Scheel et al., 2013 ), and greater reactivity to, shame ( Gratz et al., 2010 ). Shame, an aversive self-conscious emotional state wherein one experiences the self as both flawed and unacceptable ( VanDerhei et al., 2014 ), has putative links to both self-destructive and self-protective domains of sexuality; namely, sexual self-esteem ( Heinrichs et al., 2009 ) and sexual risk-taking ( Overstreet, 2012 ). The current research investigated (1) relations between elevated BPD symptom severity and sexuality, and (2) whether shame-proneness could mediate relations between BPD symptom severity and sexuality domains in an undergraduate sample. Participants included 167 women undergraduate psychology students ( Mage = 20.42, SD = 4.82) who completed measures of BPD symptom severity, shame-proneness, sexual self-esteem, and safe sex behaviour. Shame-proneness partially mediated relations between BPD symptom severity and both sexual self-esteem (6.79% variance) and sexual risk-taking (2.82% variance). Potential implications include understanding how proneness to shame may enhance likelihood of sexual risk-taking behaviour and/or low sexual self-esteem, and whether shame-targeted interventions could mitigate the ramifications of shame on these domains of sexuality in individuals with higher BPD symptom severity.