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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Apr:55:7-17.
doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2014.01.008. Epub 2014 Feb 11.

A pilot randomized controlled trial of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with and without the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure protocol for suicidal and self-injuring women with borderline personality disorder and PTSD

Melanie S Harned  1 , Kathryn E Korslund  2 , Marsha M Linehan  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A pilot randomized controlled trial of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with and without the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure protocol for suicidal and self-injuring women with borderline personality disorder and PTSD

Melanie S Harned et al. Behav Res Ther. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluates the efficacy of integrating PTSD treatment into Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for women with borderline personality disorder, PTSD, and intentional self-injury.

Methods: Participants were randomized to DBT (n=9) or DBT with the DBT Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE) protocol (n=17) and assessed at 4-month intervals during the treatment year and 3-months post-treatment.

Results: Treatment expectancies, satisfaction, and completion did not differ by condition. In DBT+DBT PE, the DBT PE protocol was feasible to implement for a majority of treatment completers. Compared to DBT, DBT+DBT PE led to larger and more stable improvements in PTSD and doubled the remission rate among treatment completers (80% vs. 40%). Patients who completed the DBT PE protocol were 2.4 times less likely to attempt suicide and 1.5 times less likely to self-injure than those in DBT. Among treatment completers, moderate to large effect sizes favored DBT+DBT PE for dissociation, trauma-related guilt cognitions, shame, anxiety, depression, and global functioning.

Conclusions: DBT with the DBT PE protocol is feasible, acceptable, and safe to administer, and may lead to larger improvements in PTSD, intentional self-injury, and other outcomes than DBT alone. The findings require replication in a larger sample.

Keywords: Borderline personality disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Self-injury; Suicide.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Subject flow through enrollment and follow-up.
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