Development of a Behavioral Measure of Emotion Regulation using Immersive Virtual Environments

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report having considerable problems with emotion regulation. However, few studies have used objective measures to directly examine emotion regulation difficulties in BPD. In this study funded by a Duke University Provost’s Common Fund Grant, an interdisciplinary group consisting of Dr. Rosenthal (PI; clinical psychologist), Dr. Kevin LaBar (cognitive neuroscientist), and a team of visualization experts led by Rachael Brady is developing a novel behavioral measure of emotion regulation. Using the theoretical model for emotion regulation outlined by James Gross (e.g., Gross, 1998), the Duke Immersive Virtual Environment is being used to create a fully immersive space wherein participants will engage in simulated real-world environments, and difficulties with emotion regulation will be directly measured.