Discrepancies between explicit and implicit self-esteem are linked to symptom severity in borderline personality disorder

The present study examined whether discrepancies between explicit and implicit self-esteem are associated with symptom severity in a sample of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). We hypothesized that implicit–explicit self-esteem discrepancies foster autoaggressive behavior and dysphoria, and impair self-perception. We found that the two forms of self-esteem discrepancies, damaged and fragile self-esteem were related to the severity of overall borderline symptoms, autoaggression, dysphoria, and deficits in self-perception. In contrast, more general psychopathological impairment, such as depression, was not related to self-esteem discrepancies. Taken together our results indicate that discrepancies between explicit and implicit self-esteem are associated with certain borderline symptoms that may be based on internal tension. The findings can be interpreted within the framework of self-discrepancies and dichotomous attitudes in patients with BPD.