The Within-Person Effects of Validation and Invalidation on In-Session Changes in Affect

Validation is the accurate reflection of someone's internal experiences. Validation has been theorized to enhance the process of therapy and facilitate effective outcomes (Lynch, Chapman, Rosenthal, Kuo, & Linehan. 2006). Additionally, validation may play an integral role in reducing emotional arousal specifically for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). There is little research on the relation between validation and therapy outcomes such as affect change. In the current study. we tested the relations among self-reported validation and invalidation and in-session changes in positive and negative affect with a sample of 52 clients in treatment. Further. we examined BPD features as a moderator of the relations between self-reported validation and invalidation and in-session changes in affect. We disaggregated within-person from between-person effects using client reports of validation and invalidation during Sessions 3 to 7. Greater within-person validation was associated with decreased postsession negative affect, whereas greater within-person invalidation was associated with increased postsession NA. Neither validation nor invalidation was related to changes in positive affect. Further, at elevated levels of BPD features, validation, but not invalidation, was associated with decreases in negative affect. BPD features did not moderate the relation between validation or invalidation and postsession positive affect. These results provide empirical evidence that patient-reported validation and invalidation predict changes in negative affect during sessions. Additionally, these results suggest that patients with elevated BPD features are particularly responsive to validation during therapy sessions, and as such, provide an avenue for navigating the in-session negative emotional arousal that these patients often experience.