| Project Detail |
Helping BPD teens receive early diagnoses
For many young people, the tumultuous journey of adolescence is clouded by the shadow of borderline personality disorder (BPD). This complex mental health condition often evades early detection and intervention, leaving its sufferers vulnerable to long-term struggles. With the support of Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, the BOLD MINDS project aims to better understand BPDs emergence, potentially providing a lifeline to those suffering from the condition. With a focus on enhancing our comprehension of vulnerability factors, BOLD MINDS will pave the way for evidence-based early interventions. By studying how disruptions in autobiographical memory impact identity formation and emotion regulation, the project promises a crucial step forward in addressing self-harm, suicidality and other problem behaviours often associated with BPD.
BOLD MINDS aspires to enhance the understanding of vulnerability factors underlying the emergence of borderline personality disorder (BPD), with an ultimate aim of increasing the potential for young individuals to receive early, evidence-based help when their mental health is at risk. BOLD MINDS will achieve this by investigating whether disruptions in two aspects of autobiographical memory (AM), narrative identity (NI) and involuntary AM (IAM), are associated with BPD features and problem behaviours in adolescents concurrently and over time. In doing so, BOLD MINDS will strengthen the understanding of mechanisms underlying the emergence of BPD in adolescence and lay a groundwork for developing evidence-based early interventions for BPD. While currently limited, the study of AM in this field is essential for two reasons. Firstly, because the aspects of AM under investigation, NI and IAM, are known to be involved in identity formation and emotion regulation which represent two key psychological processes that are disrupted in adults with BPD and are linked to problem behaviours such as self-harm and suicidality. Secondly, because promising research is emerging on the use of AM targets in the treatment of emotional disorder in adults, and provides a strong model for future treatment development with vulnerable adolescents. In addition, this timely research program aligns with calls from international organizations to prioritize early interventions to promote adolescent mental health. BOLD MINDS will adopt and adapt state-of-the-art ecological momentary assessment and analytical techniques and work at the crossroads of clinical and cognitive psychological perspectives, allowing for a multidimensional approach to understanding BPD vulnerability. Training-through-research and formalized training of the experienced researcher will prepare her for a permanent academic position and the founding of her own research lab specializing in AM and early interventions for BPD. |
