Investigating the relationship between inner speech and emotional experience: self-perception in the context of borderline personality disorder

Investigating the relationship between inner speech and emotional experience: self-perception in the context of borderline personality disorder - InnerEmoSelf

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00036604

Enrollment

200

Registered

2025-04-17

Start date

2025-05-02

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-10-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Use of the BSL-23 with a cut-off score of 1.50 to assess the presence of borderline symptomatology

Interventions

Group 1: Clinical group: individuals with borderline symptomatology (cut-off: BSL-23) In the questionnaire study, a clinical group with borderline symptoms is compared to a healthy control group with

otherwise, they are assigned to the healthy control group. BFI-S – Big Five Inventory-SOEP BSL-95 – Borderline-Symptom-Liste 95 LSHS-R – Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale – Revised CEFSA Scale – Cern

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 65 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: none

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: other psychiatric or psychopathological diagnoses, without comorbidity with borderline personality disorder (e.g., schizophrenia, autism, depression) (self-reported)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Relationship between negative inner speech [=sumscore subscale positive of the VISQ-R] /self-invalidation (SI) [=sumscore subscale self-criticism of the STS] and BPD symptom intensity [=sumscore BSL-95] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom intensity. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates positively with BPD symptom intensity. 2. Bivariate relationships between negative inner speech [=sumscore subscale positive of the VISQ-R] /Self invalidation (SI) [=sumscore subscale self-criticism of the STS] and sub dimensions of BPD. 2a.) Assessment of one’s own emotional competencies [=respective sumscores of individual emotions on the SEK-ES] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and the assessment of one’s own emotional competencies. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates negatively with the assessment of one’s own emotional competencies. 2b.) Self-concept clarity [=sumscore SKKS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and self-concept clarity. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates negatively with self-concept clarity. 2c.) Identity commitment [=sumscore subscale interpersonal identity of the U-MICS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and identity commitment. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates positively with identity commitment.	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Relationship between negative inner speech [=sumscore subscale positive of the VISQ-R] /self-invalidation (SI) [=sumscore subscale self-criticism of the STS] and BPD symptom intensity [=sumscore BSL-95] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptom intensity. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates positively with BPD symptom intensity. 2. Bivariate relationships between negative inner speech [=sumscore subscale positive of the VISQ-R] /Self invalidation (SI) [=sumscore subscale self-criticism of the STS] and sub dimensions of BPD. 2a.) Assessment of one’s own emotional competencies [=respective sumscores of individual emotions on the SEK-ES] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and the assessment of one’s own emotional competencies. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates negatively with the assessment of one’s own emotional competencies. 2b.) Self-concept clarity [=sumscore SKKS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and self-concept clarity. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates negatively with self-concept clarity. 2c.) Identity commitment [=sumscore subscale interpersonal identity of the U-MICS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between negative inner speech/self-invalidation (SI) and identity commitment. Alternative hypothesis (H1): Negative inner speech/self-invalidation correlates positively with identity commitment.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
3. Group differences: 3a.) Negative inner speech [=sumscore subscale positive of the VISQ-R] / self-invalidation (SI) [=sumscore subscale self-criticism of the STS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity concerning negative inner speech/self-invalidation. Alternative hpothesis (H1): Participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity show higher scores in negative inner speech/self-invalidation compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity. 3b.) Self-concept clarity [=sumscore SKKS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity concerning self-concept clarity. Alternative hpothesis (H1): Participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity show lower scores in self-concept clarity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity. 3c.) Identity commitment [=sumscore subscale interpersonal identity of the U-MICS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity concerning identity commitment. Alternative hpothesis (H1): Participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity show lower scores in identity commitment compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity.	—

Measure

Time frame

3. Group differences: 3a.) Negative inner speech [=sumscore subscale positive of the VISQ-R] / self-invalidation (SI) [=sumscore subscale self-criticism of the STS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity concerning negative inner speech/self-invalidation. Alternative hpothesis (H1): Participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity show higher scores in negative inner speech/self-invalidation compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity. 3b.) Self-concept clarity [=sumscore SKKS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity concerning self-concept clarity. Alternative hpothesis (H1): Participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity show lower scores in self-concept clarity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity. 3c.) Identity commitment [=sumscore subscale interpersonal identity of the U-MICS] Null hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity concerning identity commitment. Alternative hpothesis (H1): Participants with clinical BPD symptom intensity show lower scores in identity commitment compared to participants without clinical BPD symptom intensity.

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Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactPhilipp Schmidt-Boddy

Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg

philipp.schmidt-boddy@uni-heidelberg.de+49 6221 2056 4755

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026