[Page 500]The biosocial theory of borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a framework developed to understand some of the symptoms and difficulties of those with BPD and to guide effective treatment practices. Originally described in Marsha Linehan’s 1993 book Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, the biosocial theory has subsequently been updated by Sheila E. Crowell and colleagues based on accumulating research on BPD and potential developmental precursors to this disorder. The central premise of this theory is that BPD is a disorder of the emotion regulation system. The biosocial theory forms the foundation for dialectical behavior therapy, an efficacious treatment for BPD, and guides clinicians treating those with BPD to emphasize ways by which to effectively regulate emotions.

According to the biosocial theory, BPD results from ...