Affect-based Impulsivity in Borderline Personality Disorder

NCT ID: NCT06880640

Last Updated: 2025-09-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 106 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-09-21
• Study Completion Date: 2026-08-31

Brief Summary

The purpose of this research study is to investigate how personality traits and neuroendocrine systems relate to decision-making patterns in individuals 18-45 years old. The main question it aims to answer is how neuroendocrine activity impacts decision-making.

Participants will complete online behavioral tasks, a stress induction procedure, self-report surveys, and a cognitive assessment. During the session, psychophysiological measures will be collected, including electrocardiogram (ECG) and cardiac impedance (ICG) to monitor heart rate and blood flow, as well as electrodermal activity (EDA), blood drop samples, and saliva collection to assess nervous system activity.

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD); Healthy Controls Group - Age and Sex-matched

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Stress

Participants will undergo a controlled stress induction approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes into Session 1.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Stress Induction

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants will complete the Trier Social Stress Test to induce stress, which includes a public speaking simulation and mental arithmetic.

Interventions

Stress Induction

Participants will complete the Trier Social Stress Test to induce stress, which includes a public speaking simulation and mental arithmetic.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) group:

• Score of 38 or higher on Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Scale (PAI-BOR)
• Participants in the BPD group will be primarily recruited from the two

DEPENd lab studies that maintain large samples of BPD participants. To ensure maximal similarity between BPD participants recruited from other DEPENd lab studies and BPD participants recruited through other recruitment sources, the investigators will use the same criteria for the BPD group in the current study as the criteria used in the other DEPENd lab studies. BPD participants in the two DEPENd lab studies from which the investigators will be recruiting must meet the following criteria:

1. 3+ BPD symptoms, one of which must be affective instability, per clinical interview

2. Participants must score at least 80 on the Reynolds Intellectual Screening Test (RIST).

Health Control (HC) Group:

• Score of 12 or lower on PAI-BOR
• Score below 50th percentile on World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS)
• Absence of any current or lifetime psychiatric disorder, including personality disorders as determined by diagnostic interviews (SIDP and SCID), if the participant had participated in the lab's other studies (IRB Nos. 20-1735 and 21-0602).

• Ages 18-45
• Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
• Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and lifestyle considerations and availability for the duration of the study
• Willingness to participate in all components of the study
• Participants must be able to speak, understand and read English.
• Participants must have at least 20/40 visual acuity (correct or uncorrected).

Exclusion Criteria

• Use of as needed antihypertensive agents within 12 hours prior to lab visit
• Inability to refrain from using as needed psychotropic medications for 12 hours prior to lab visit
• History of psychotic disorder, Bipolar I disorder, autism spectrum disorder, reactive attachment disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, motor disorder, head injury, mental retardation, neurological disorder, or current substance dependence
• Family history of Bipolar I disorder in a first degree relative.
• Participants are also excluded for any of the following: cardiac pacemaker, aneurysm clip, cochlear implants, pregnancy, shrapnel, history of metal fragments in eyes, neurostimulators, weight of 250 lbs. or more, or claustrophobia.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 45 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Michael Hallquist, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Locations

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Michael N Hallquist, PhD

Role: CONTACT

michael.hallquist@unc.edu

412-613-9306

Facility Contacts

Michael N Hallquist, PhD

Role: primary

michael.hallquist@unc.edu

412-613-9306

References

Huys QJ, Eshel N, O'Nions E, Sheridan L, Dayan P, Roiser JP. Bonsai trees in your head: how the pavlovian system sculpts goal-directed choices by pruning decision trees. PLoS Comput Biol. 2012;8(3):e1002410. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002410. Epub 2012 Mar 8.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 22412360 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

CTSC0406

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

24-3120

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id