RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Judging positive emotional states or the trustworthiness of others is important for forming and maintaining social affiliations. Past studies have described alterations in these appraisal processes in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which might have been exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic by the requirement to wear face masks. In the present study, we investigated in an online-survey a) whether social judgments are particularly strongly affected in individuals with BPD when they have to judge happiness and trustworthiness in facial stimuli covered by a mask, b) whether appraising a positive emotional state affects trustworthiness appraisals differentially in BPD and healthy individuals and c) whether social judgments are related to how individuals with BPD experience wearing masks during the pandemic. METHODS: Participants (67 HC, 75 BPD) judged happiness and trustworthiness of faces with calm expression with and without masks. Additionally, data on participants' confidence in their judgments, the experience of the burden induced by wearing masks, the protective benefits of masks, and compliance to wearing masks were collected. RESULTS: Happiness and trustworthiness were evaluated less confidently and less intense in the BPD group compared to HC. Masks reduced happiness and trustworthiness ratings in both groups. Lower happiness appraisals contributed to lower trustworthiness appraisals except for those with BPD and low levels of symptom severity. Lower trustworthiness ratings were associated with a higher burden, attributing a lower benefit to masks and lower compliance with wearing masks in BPD. CONCLUSIONS: Masks do not exacerbate deficits in social judgments. However, lower trustworthiness appraisals in general were linked with more negative evaluations of wearing masks in the BPD group. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The aims and hypotheses were preregistered together with the design and planned analyses ( https://aspredicted.org/f5du7.pdf ). For findings of an additionally preregistered research question on the impact of adverse childhood experiences see supplementary material.
RESUMEN
Background: Interpersonal impairments in borderline personality disorder (BPD) are characterised by a lack in the sense of belonging and the fear of being excluded. One feature of interactions that can promote a sense of social belonging is interpersonal touch. While some studies suggest that individuals with BPD experience social touch as less pleasurable than healthy individuals (HCs), there are no studies that investigated whether this difference is associated with feeling less socially connected. This question is particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, since one central behavioural recommendation is "social distancing". An increase in loneliness has been discussed as a consequence and it has been suggested that individuals with BPD may be particularly burdened. However, the primary goal of "social distancing" is not preventing social contacts, but physical proximity. In our study we investigated the interplay between feeling close to others, contact frequency and the appraisal of social touch in BPD. We were additionally interested in whether these factors contribute to the burden through "physical distancing". Methods: We assessed subjective and objective social isolation, the need, importance, and liking of social touch, as well as the burden through "physical distancing" policies in 130 women (61 BPD and 69 HCs). Results: Participants of the BPD group reported higher loneliness, less social contacts and a lower need for, importance and liking of social touch compared to HCs. Larger social networks, higher frequency of in-person contacts and higher liking and importance of social touch were associated with lower levels of loneliness. Both groups did not differ regarding their burden through "physical distancing". A higher need for and lower importance of social touch predicted a higher burden through "physical distancing". Conclusions: A positive appraisal of social touch was associated with less loneliness, independently of an individual's objective social isolation. In BPD, impairments of this fundamental facet of social interaction might hamper forming and strengthening of social bonds and contribute to the patients' interpersonal dysfunction. Changing the attitude towards social touch and in consequence its liking and importance in social interaction might provide one avenue to improve the sense of social connectedness in these patients.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the negative effects of wearing a mouth-nose cover (MNC) on interpersonal functioning have been discussed in public media but empirical studies on how wearing MNCs affect social judgements are sparse. In the present study, we investigated the effects of MNCs on trustworthiness appraisals, the influence of changes due to MNCs in evaluating joy, and the relationship between a social-cognitive appraisal bias and a participant's characteristics. METHODS: All participants (N = 165) judged the intensity of happiness and trustworthiness in calm facial stimuli presented with and without a surgical mask covering part of the face. We analysed the relationship of changes in judgements evoked by MNCs to participants' evaluations of MNCs as protective tools and explored their associations with the burden experienced by wearing MNCs, compliance to behaviour recommendations, their risk associated with the pandemic, and their levels of psychological distress. RESULTS: Overall, calm facial stimuli covered with MNCs were evaluated as less trustworthy and, to an even stronger extent, less happy than uncovered facial stimuli. However, participants varied in whether they showed a negative or positive evaluation of faces with MNCs; the negative bias was stronger in those participants who attributed lower protective potential to MNCs, experienced a higher burden while wearing MNCs, wore MNCs less often, and experienced a higher level of psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: A negative bias in trustworthiness appraisals of faces with a positive emotional expression covered by MNCs is linked to a participant's evaluation of MNCs as inefficient and burdening and their experience of high psychological distress.
