Treatment of Suicidal Women With Borderline Personality Disorder

University of Washington

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Borderline Personality Disorder; Suicide

Treatments: Behavioral: Individual DBT with no DBT group sessions (DBT-I); Behavioral: Standard dialectical behavior therapy (SDBT); Behavioral: Group Skills DBT with no DBT individual sessions (DBT-S)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT00183651

R01MH034486 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is a component analysis of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to determine the importance of DBT skills training and DBT individual therapy in treating suicidal women with borderline personality disorder.

Full description

People with borderline personality disorder have limited behavioral skills and react abnormally to emotional stimulation. Standard dialectical behavior therapy (SDBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for borderline personality disorder. This treatment combines weekly group sessions, at which patients learn new ways of dealing with their emotions, with weekly individual sessions with a therapist to discuss their emotions. The study compares SDBT to both individual DBT with no skills training and DBT skills training with no individual therapy. The study will determine whether efficacy of standard DBT is reduced when either DBT skills training or individual DBT therapy is removed.

Participants are randomly assigned to receive 1 year of SDBT, DBT with group sessions but no individual sessions, and DBT with individual sessions with no group sessions. Participants are monitored for 1 year after completing their assigned therapy. Throughout the 1-year study and during the 1-year follow-up period, self-report scales and questionnaires are used to assess participants every 4 months. These scales and questionnaires measure participants' suicidal thoughts and attempts, treatment compliance, emotional coping skills, social functioning, and overall well-being.

Enrollment: 99 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of BPD
• At least one suicide attempt in the year prior to study entry AND at least one intentional self-injury within the 8 weeks prior to study entry
• Willing and able to comply with all study requirements

Exclusion criteria

• IQ less than 70
• Life-threatening anorexia
• Street homelessness with no contact information
• Admittance to a hospital with no expectation of discharge within 3 weeks prior to study entry OR sentenced to a jail or prison term that will last for more than 3 weeks
• Ordered by the court to receive psychological treatment
• Meet DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or seizure disorder
• Medical conditions other than BPD that may interfere with the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

99 participants in 3 patient groups

S-DBT

Experimental group

Description:

Participants receive standard dialectical behavior therapy

Treatment:

Behavioral: Standard dialectical behavior therapy (SDBT)

DBT-I

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants receive individual dialectical behavior therapy plus activities group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Individual DBT with no DBT group sessions (DBT-I)

DBT-S

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants receive dialectical behavior therapy group skills plus case management

Treatment:

Behavioral: Group Skills DBT with no DBT individual sessions (DBT-S)