Participants and Procedures
Participants were 165 community members aged 18-52 (M = 23.5,SD = 6.97); 84.2% identified as women; 69.8% identified as White. Participants for this study were recruited from the community; 47.9% were full-time students. Data collection took place as part of a larger study on borderline personality disorder (BPD), and over half of the appointment slots were reserved for those with elevated BPD features (i.e., 5+ criteria endorsed on a preliminary screening [First, et al., 2015] and/or a score of 38 or higher on the personality assessment inventory – borderline scale [Morey et al., 1991]). Inclusion criteria included being 18 - 55 years of age, a fluent English speaker, and able to read/complete online questionnaires; exclusion criteria included: (a) current or recent (past year) psychotic symptoms; and (b) these symptoms were determined to be serious enough to interfere with an individual’s ability to adequately complete all study procedures. Following screening protocols (assessing BPD features), participants were invited into the lab to complete the interpersonal stressor interview and self-report questionnaires. These interviews were conducted by trained graduate research assistants in a private room. All participants provided informed consent and all procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board.