Dialectical Behavior Therapy Rutgers University Research Program

Borderline Personality Disorder Clinical Trial

— DBT-RU  

Official title:

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Rutgers University Research Program

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Active, not recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03123198
• Other study ID #: Pro2019001864
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 2010
• Est. completion date: December 2025

Study information

• Verified date: April 2023
• Source: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This protocol establishes a research oriented psychological treatment clinic within the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP), called the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Rutgers University Research Program (DBT-RU). The overall aim of the proposed research is to find ways to improve therapist training in existing treatments for complex and difficult-to-treat problems (e.g., DBT, prolonged exposure), develop new and more effective treatments, and improve understanding of severe psychopathology. Consequently, this proposed research will have four branches: (1) training of research clinicians and evaluation of training methods; (2) training of clinical evaluators for the research studies and evaluation of assessment training methods; (3) assessment of treatment outcome, including assessment of mediators and moderators of change (both clinician and client data); (4) assessment and analyses of psychopathology of subject populations who participate in the DBT-RU.

Description:

DBT is an evidence-based and empirically supported treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD), suicide, and self-injury. DBT is traditionally administered for a minimum of 6 months in an outpatient setting but has been adapted to be used in other treatment settings (e.g., intensive outpatient). DBT consists of multiple key components, including weekly individual therapy, group skills training, and option to engage in out-of-session contact with their provider via telephone to receive coaching on how to use DBT skills to manage real-life issues (e.g., urges to harm self). To date, more than a dozen randomized control trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies have been conducted, and compared to 12 months of treatment as usual (TAU), DBT has been shown to result in significantly greater reduction in frequency and severity of self-injurious behaviors, inpatient hospitalizations, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse (see Panos, Jackson, Hasan, & Panos, 2014 ). This research aims to (1) advance our understanding of underlying mechanisms driving treatment outcomes; (2) isolate the effects of particular components and strategies employed in DBT on various outcomes (e.g., suicide), (3) enhance training and evaluation methods for research clinicians; (4) test to see if benefits in DBT are sustained over a period of time beyond follow-up; and (5) advance our knowledge of how DBT operates in everyday life to reduce day-to-day emotion dysregulation and related target behaviors (e.g., suicidal behavior).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: December 2025
• Est. primary completion date: March 2025
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

A. Age 18 years or older. B. Agreement to take part in assessments, videotaping/audiotaping and coding of their sessions by research personnel.

C. Agreement to pay for mental health services at the DBT-RU, and to participate in research assessments as volunteers.

D. Residence within commuting distance of clinic (< 45 minutes) E. Agreement to discontinue other forms of therapy F. Meets criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD)

Exclusion Criteria:

• A. Clients who need mental health services not available at the DBT-RU, such as treatment for schizophrenia or life-threatening anorexia, or who are currently obtaining optimum professional treatment that should not be ended.

B. Non-English speaking. C. Present DSM-IV diagnosis of Mental Retardation. D. Unable to understand research consent forms.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Personality Disorders

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
DBT is a multimodal comprehensive psychosocial treatment.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Rutgers University	Piscataway	New Jersey

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview	Interview to assess prevalence rates of suicidal and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors	Past six months
Primary	Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5	Interview to assess lifetime and current rates of psychological disorders	At baseline, lifetime history is assessed. At 3-months and 6-months, changes to diagnostic status are assessed.
Secondary	Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale		Past two weeks
Secondary	Borderline Symptom List (BSL-23)		Past 1 month
Secondary	Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)		Past 1 week