Emotional Dysregulation and Borderline Personality Disorder: Explaining the Link between Secondary Psychopathy and Alexithymia

•We examined variables contributing to the secondary psychopathy and alexithymia link.•Borderline PD and emotional dysregulation helped explain the association.•Secondary and alexithymia were related to similar emotion regulation processes.•Alexithymia, not secondary, was related to lack of emotional awareness.•Therapeutic methods like DBT and mindfulness might be useful for these constructs.