Inhibitory control deficits in borderline personality disorder: a meta-analysis of stop-signal and Go/No-Go tasks.

Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Impulsivity, a multifaceted construct, is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), associated with functional impairment and suicide mortality. Findings on motor inhibitory control, a key dimension of impulsivity, in BPD are heterogeneous.<h4>Methods</h4>This PRISMA-guided meta-analysis examines motor inhibitory control in adults with BPD compared to healthy controls (HCs), using Stop-Signal Task and Go/No-Go Task data. Thirty-seven datasets from 35 articles were included.<h4>Results</h4>Results from random-effect models suggest that BPD patients exhibit significantly higher motor inhibitory control deficits than HCs, with a small to moderate effect size. Contrary to common assumptions, a mixed-model effect found that emotional factors did not moderate inhibitory control in BPD. Finally, the meta-analysis revealed that self-reported impulsivity measures did not correlate with task performance, suggesting that subjective and objective measures of impulsivity may assess different facets of the construct.<h4>Conclusions</h4>These findings highlight the need for greater standardization of task-based measures of impulsivity, as methodological heterogeneity and quality currently limit replicability across studies.