NCT04626310

Mapping Aspects of Psychotherapy in Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Mapping Treatment Components to Targets in Dialectical Behavior Therapy

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 84 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Amherst · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Although dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training is effective in the treatment of borderline personality disorder, it contains four skills modules and there is little research to guide their modular application. This study compares the unique effects of two distinct DBT skills training modules, relative to a non-DBT therapy group for adults with borderline personality disorder. Using innovative laboratory-based assessment methods, the proposed study will examine the effects of these conditions on emotional responding and interpersonal functioning, as well as clinical outcomes.

Detailed description

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health condition with high morbidity and mortality. Although dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an efficacious treatment for BPD, it is resource-intensive and lengthy in its full form, involving one year of weekly individual therapy and group skills training in mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance. As a result, few patients have access to the full treatment. A better understanding of how the distinct components of DBT affect different sets of symptoms could help to streamline this treatment and personalize its use with specific patients. Improvements in both interpersonal and emotional functioning are theorized to underlie improvements in BPD. Thus, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness skills training may be particularly important components of DBT. Therefore, this study examines the unique effects of two distinct DBT skills training modules. Participants are adults with BPD and recent, recurrent self-injurious behaviors (planned N = 81) who are randomly assigned to six weeks of DBT emotion regulation skills training (DBT-ER), DBT interpersonal effectiveness skills training (DBT-IE), or a non-skills control group. Using innovative laboratory-based multimethod assessments, this study examines the effects of these conditions on emotional responding and interpersonal functioning, as well as BPD related outcomes. Aim 1 examines the unique effects of DBT-ER and DBT-IE on their respective emotion-related (subjective and biological emotional reactivity, behavioral emotion regulation, skills use) and interpersonal (subjective and behavioral) targets, compared to the non-DBT treatment. Aim 2 examines whether improved emotional functioning predicts reductions in BPD symptoms and self-injury. Aim 3 examines whether baseline emotion dysregulation interacts with treatment condition to predict treatment response. The proposed research is innovative in its experimental examination of the effects of DBT components on specific targets in BPD. Given the high societal costs of BPD, this work has important public health significance. Findings will inform larger studies evaluating the potential modular use of DBT components to result in briefer and more efficient individualized treatments for patients.

Conditions

• Borderline Personality Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Dialectical behavior therapy - emotion regulation skills training	Arm 1. Dialectical behavior therapy - emotion regulation skills training follows the emotion regulation skills DBT Skills Training Manual Second Edition and the DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets Second Edition. This group involves 6 weekly sessions. Arm 2. Dialectical behavior therapy - interpersonal effectiveness skills training follows the interpersonal effectiveness skills DBT Skills Training Manual Second Edition and the DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets Second Edition. This group involves 6 weekly sessions.
BEHAVIORAL	Dialectical behavior therapy - interpersonal effectiveness skills training	Arm 2. Dialectical behavior therapy - interpersonal effectiveness skills training follows the interpersonal effectiveness skills DBT Skills Training Manual Second Edition and the DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets Second Edition. This group involves 6 weekly sessions.
BEHAVIORAL	Interpersonal psychotherapy	Arm 3. Non-skills-oriented interpersonal psychotherapy group follows evidence-based principles on common factors in a group therapy context. This group involves 6 weekly sessions.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-10-26
• Primary completion: 2023-02-06
• Completion: 2023-02-06
• First posted: 2020-11-12
• Last updated: 2024-11-27
• Results posted: 2024-11-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States