Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35691285›Full record

ArticlePsychopathology2022

Is Splitting Related to Resistance to Proactive Interference? A Process-Oriented Study of Kernberg's Conceptualization of Splitting.

Jean Gagnon, Joyce Emma Quansah, Gasser Saleh, Charles Levin

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In one paragraph

Article in Psychopathology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jean GagnonDepartment of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Joyce Emma QuansahDepartment of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Gasser SalehDepartment of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada.
Charles LevinCanadian Institute of Psychoanalysis, Montreal, Québec, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSplitting, as a defense mechanism in Kernberg's theory, plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of polarized and oscillating representations of self/other characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Although the notion of splitting can be considered from a structural and a functional point of view, almost all empirical studies to date have focused on the former elements to the detriment of related cognitive processes.

methodsTo further investigate the cognitive processes related to splitting, 60 participants were administered the Splitting Index and indexes of resistance to proactive interference (PI) using the interpersonal recent negative task with words that reflect negative or positive interactions compared to neutral words.

resultsThe use of splitting was uniquely and significantly predicted by a higher capacity to resist PI and a lower capacity to consistently maintain this resistance when presented with negative words, above and beyond BPD traits, primitive defenses, and the presentation of neutral words. Results showed no evidence of a relationship between splitting and resistance to PI with positive words.

conclusionResults appear compatible with Kernberg's conceptualization of splitting as an active defense process that relates to an unstable capacity to inhibit negative representations of the object from entering working memory.

Indexed as

Borderline Personality DisorderConcept FormationHumansBorderline personality disorderCognitive inhibitionCognitive processDefense mechanismsObject relationsRepresentation of self and othersResistance to proactive interferenceSplitting

Identifiers

PMID35691285
PMCPMC9677828

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