| Description |
The current study was designed to examine biosocial correlates of identity disturbance in a sample of suicidal youth at high risk for borderline personality disorder compared with community controls. We used a multimethod, multi-informant design to examine vulnerability and risk for identity disturbance, including biological assessments, self- and informant-report. Participants' electrodermal responding (EDR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and fundamental frequency were collected during a motherchild discussion task regarding adolescents' personality characteristics. We predicted (1) suicidal adolescents would endorse greater overall identity distress across more domains compared with community controls, and (2) that biological vulnerabilities (e.g., EDR, RSA) and contextual risks (e.g., parent emotional arousal assessed with digital signal processing) would interact to predict higher self-reported identity distress among suicidal adolescents. Results indicate significant differences on identity scales for control and self-injuring adolescents. However, indices of biological and contextual risk did not interact to predict identity problems. Methodological limitations of the current study are discussed, along with implications for future research. |
