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Autobiographical Memory Impairment in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Quantitative Meta-Analysis Interpreted in Terms of the CaR-FA-X Model

Published Online:December 2019https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2018_32_368

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by impaired functioning of autobiographical memory (AM). We use a quantitative meta-analysis to assess AM performance in adults diagnosed with BPD as compared to healthy controls (HC). Moderator variables included type of autobiographical memory as well as clinical and demographic variables. Large significant deficits were seen in the BPD group in comparison to the HC group. In the BPD group, effect sizes were large for overgenerality, omission, and specific memories, while not significant for recall. Age influenced the performance of the BPD group; in addition, there was a significant interaction between age and specificity of memory. Gender and IQ did not influence memory performance. Our results confirm that BPD patients show impairment in AM. We explain these impairments in terms of the CaR-FA-X model, based on mechanisms of capture and rumination, functional avoidance, and impaired executive control.

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