Participants and Procedures
Participants were 165 community members aged 18-52 (M = 23.5,SD = 6.97); 84.2% identified as women; 69.8% identified as
White. Participants for this study were recruited from the community;
47.9% were full-time students. Data collection took place as part of a
larger study on borderline personality disorder (BPD), and over half of
the appointment slots were reserved for those with elevated BPD features
(i.e., 5+ criteria endorsed on a preliminary screening [First, et al.,
2015] and/or a score of 38 or higher on the personality assessment
inventory – borderline scale [Morey et al., 1991]). Inclusion
criteria included being 18 - 55 years of age, a fluent English speaker,
and able to read/complete online questionnaires; exclusion criteria
included: (a) current or recent (past year) psychotic symptoms; and (b)
these symptoms were determined to be serious enough to interfere with an
individual’s ability to adequately complete all study procedures.
Following screening protocols (assessing BPD features), participants
were invited into the lab to complete the interpersonal stressor
interview and self-report questionnaires. These interviews were
conducted by trained graduate research assistants in a private room. All
participants provided informed consent and all procedures were approved
by the Institutional Review Board.