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New special issue: Pharmacotherapy of Emotion Dysregulation

Emotion dysregulation is considered a transdiagnostic symptom and an underlying mechanism of psychopathology. It is present in patients with borderline personality disorder, complex PTSD, and ADHD, among others. While there are evidence-based behavioral interventions to improve emotion dysregulation, pharmacological strategies are less well studied. This Collection focuses on pharmacologic strategies for modulating emotion regulation. Clinical intervention studies are welcome, as are laboratory studies. We encourage submission of feasibility studies and confirmatory data on pharmacologic interventions that focus on emotion dysregulation, whether transdiagnostic or in specific clinical groups. In addition, research on basal mechanisms of emotion regulation that could serve as the basis for future pharmacological intervention strategies is welcome.

Edited by Stefan Röpke (stefan.roepke@charite.de)

Aims and scope

Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation provides a platform for researchers and clinicians interested in borderline personality disorder (BPD) as a currently highly challenging psychiatric disorder. Emotion dysregulation is at the core of BPD but also stands on its own as a major pathological component of the underlying neurobiology of various other psychiatric disorders. The journal focuses on the psychological, social and neurobiological aspects of emotion dysregulation as well as epidemiology, phenomenology, pathophysiology, treatment, neurobiology, genetics, and animal models of BPD. Contributions investigating the broad field of emotion regulation and dysregulation as well as related pathological mechanisms such as dysfunctional self-concepts and dysfunctional social interaction are welcomed, as are studies of novel treatments for BPD. In addition, the journal considers research into the frequent, co-occurring psychiatric disorders like Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, ADHD, depression, eating disorders, conduct disorders, drug abuse, and social phobia.

Articles

Featured first author profiles

Find out more about our first authors!

Announcing the launch of In Review

Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, in partnership with Research Square, is now offering In Review. Authors choosing this free optional service will be able to:

  • Share their work with fellow researchers to read, comment on, and cite even before publication
  • Showcase their work to funders and others with a citable DOI while it is still under review
  • Track their manuscript - including seeing when reviewers are invited, and when reports are received 

See the full range of benefits of In Review and how to opt-in

See what the In Review platform looks like

Sections in BPDED

Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation is proud to present the following sections, edited by experts in each field. These sections don't represent the full scope of the journal, but provide additional focus on areas outside our primary focuses of emotion dysregulation and BPD. 

Society affiliations

New Content ItemBPDED is the official journal of the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders. The ESSPD stimulates and supports scholarship, clinical experience, international collaboration and communication of research on all aspects of personality disorders including epidemiology, etiology, diagnosis and assessment, course and treatment in Europe. For more information on the ESSPD, please visit their landing page.

Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation is the official journal of the Dachverband Dialektisch Behaviorale Therapie (DDBT) and the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA.BPD). For further information on the DDBT, visit their website here 

The National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA.BPD) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2001 by four family members, two consumers and one mental health professional. An internationally recognized organization, NEA.BPD is dedicated to building lives for millions of people affected by borderline personality disorder (BPD). To find out more about the NEA.BPD, visit their website here.


Martin Bohus, MD, PhD is the Medical Director at the Central Institute of Mental Health and has held the position of the Chair of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heidelberg University since 2003. Dr. Bohus received his M.D. at Freiburg Medical School and did his residency in Psychiatry and Neurology at Freiburg Medical School. He made his specialty in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and in Psychosomatic Medicine. He has received several awards for psychotherapy research. He is a Board Member of the German Association of Psychiatry (DGPPN), Vice President of the European Society for the Studies of Personality Disorders (ESSPD), President of the German Association for DBT and co-Chair of the International Strategic Planning Meeting for Dialectical Behavior Therapy (SPM). He was President and Initiator: 1st International Congress on Borderline Personality Disorder, Berlin 2010 and since 2012 he is a Spokesperson of the Clinical Research Unit “Mechanisms of Disturbed Emotion Processing in BPD”. He has currently published 220 articles and book chapters, mainly on borderline personality disorders.


John M. Oldham, MD is currently Distinguished Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, USA.  He previously held the Barbara and Corbin J Robertson, Jr Endowed Chair for Personality Disorders and served as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff of the Menninger Clinic. Earlier in his career, Dr. Oldham was Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Chief Medical Officer of the New York State Office of Mental Health, and the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor and Acting Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 2002, Dr. Oldham became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Executive Director of the Institute of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, and he relocated to Houston in 2007. Dr. Oldham is the Past President of the American Psychiatric Association, Past President of the American College of Psychiatrists, Past President of the New York County District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association, Past President of the South Carolina Psychiatric Association, Past President of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, and Past President of the Association for Research on Personality Disorders.

Christian Schmahl, MD, PhD is Medical Director of the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim and spokesperson of the Research Training Group “Impact of Adverse

Childhood Experiences on Psychosocial and Somatic Conditions across the Lifespan”. Dr Schmahl received his M.D. at Giessen Medical School and did a residency in Psychiatry at Freiburg Medical School as well as a residency in Psychosomatic Medicine at the Central Institute of Mental Health. He also spent a one-year research

fellowship at Yale and Emory University. In 2007 he received the Young Researchers Award of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders”, in 2013 the Psychotherapy Research Award of the German Association of

Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, and in 2018 the Treatment and Research Advancements for Borderline Personality Disorder Star Award. He has published more than 250 articles and book chapters.

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Annual Journal Metrics

  • 2022 Citation Impact
    4.1 - 2-year Impact Factor
    4.3 - 5-year Impact Factor
    1.643 - SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
    1.394 - SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

    2023 Speed
    27 days submission to first editorial decision for all manuscripts (Median)
    124 days submission to accept (Median)

    2023 Usage
    914,152 downloads
    295 Altmetric mentions