DR. ALEXANDER CHAPMAN

Emotional Regulation, Impulsive Behaviours

Self-harm, Suicidal behaviours

One current project aims at further understanding the conditions under which people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) act impulsively. Impulsive, potentially self-damaging behaviour among persons with BPD is a serious public health problem. We examine impulsive behavior in the laboratory, under conditions of negative and neutral emotional states, in order to determine whether negative emotions increase or decrease impulsive actions.

Another project examines the effects of healthy (mindful observation of emotions) versus unhealthy (emotion suppression) strategies to manage emotions in participants’ daily lives. Persons with BPD features monitor their emotions and health-risk behaviours in daily life over four days, and are instructed to suppress their emotions on some of these days, and to observe their emotions on other days.

A third project examines the effects of a behavioural treatment on psychiatric disorders among suicidal women with BPD. For this project, we are currently writing up the results. The study was based on a randomized clinical trial of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993) for suicidal women with BPD.

Chapman, A.L., Leung, D.W., & Lynch, T.R. (in press). Impulsivity and emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders.

Chapman, A. L., & Dixon-Gordon, K. L. (in press). Emotional antecedents and consequences of deliberate self-harm and suicide attempts. Suicide & Life Threatening Behavior.

Chapman, A. L., Lynch, T. R., Rosenthal, M. Z., Cheavens, J. S., Smoski, M., & Krishnan, R. (2007). Risk aversion among depressed older adults with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 31, 161-174.

Chapman, A. L., & Cellucci, A. J. (2007). The role of borderline and antisocial features in substance dependence among female inmates. Addictive Behaviors, 32, 1131-1145.

Chapman, A. L. (2007). Review of Walsh’s Treating self-injury: A practical guide. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 86-88.

Chapman, A. L., Gratz, K. L., & Brown, M. (2006). Solving the puzzle of deliberate self-harm: The experiential avoidance model. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 44, 371-394.

Chapman, A. L., & Linehan, M. M. (2005). Dialectical behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder. In M. Zanarini (Ed.), Borderline Personality Disorder (pp. 211-242). Florida: Taylor & Francis.

Chapman, A. L., Specht, M. W., & Cellucci, A. J. (2005). Factors associated with suicide attempts in female inmates: The hegemony of hopelessness. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 35, 558-569.

Chapman, A. L., Specht, M. W., & Cellucci, A. J. (2005). Borderline personality disorder and deliberate self-harm: Does experiential avoidance play a role? Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, 35, 388-399.

Recent workshops given on behavioural treatments for borderline personality disorder and related problems:

Chapman, A. L. (2007, May). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop given to nurses and other mental health practitioners, sponsored by Executive Links, Winnipeg, MA.

Chapman, A. L. (2007, May). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop given to nurses and other mental health practitioners, sponsored by Executive Links, Toronto, ON.

Chapman, A. L. (2007, April). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop given to nurses and other mental health practitioners, sponsored by Executive Links, Vancouver, BC.

Chapman, A. L. (2007, Mar). Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Two 1/2-day workshops presented, 4th Annual Forensic Psychiatry Conference, Victoria, BC.

Chapman, A. L. (2007, Feb). Mindfulness and emotion regulation skills in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. 1-day workshop, Health & Career Counseling Centre, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.

Chapman, A. L. (2007, Feb). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop given to nurses and other mental health practitioners, sponsored by Executive Links, Calgary, AB.

Chapman, A. L. (2007, Feb). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop given to nurses and other mental health practitioners, sponsored by Executive Links, Edmonton, AB.

Chapman, A. L. (2006, Nov). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop, Alberta Psychological Association, Edmonton, AB.

Chapman, A. L. (2006, Oct). Coping with chaos: Dialectical behavior therapy for clients with multiple disorders. 1-day workshop presented at the Post-Secondary Counselor Association, Vancouver, BC.

Chapman, A. L., & Samra, J. (2006, Oct). Mindfulness and emotion regulation skills in dialectical behavior therapy. Workshop presented to mental health practitioners within the Ministry for Children and Family Development, Vancouver, BC.