Predictors of Clinical Course and Treatment Response in DBT Programmes

The aim of the project is to collect data from systematic and uniform clinical assessments to study predictors of the clinical course and treatment response in patients admitted to and treated in clinical units delivering Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in Norway.

Aims and research questions:

The study will address the following main research questions:

• Which patient characteristics (sociodemographic variables, psychiatric diagnoses/comorbidities, previous suicidal and self-harming behaviour, previous treatment history), predict a favourable clinical course and treatment response?
• Which factors mediate the clinical change in key outcomes such as a) target symptom levels (depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, borderline symptoms etc.), b) function levels (emotion regulation capacity, use of coping skills, social functioning, occupational / academic performance level etc.), c) problem behaviours (suicide attempts, non-suicidal self-harm, substance abuse, eating disorder symptoms etc.), d) global functioning and e) the use of emergency treatment services.
• What are significant moderators of treatment response with respect to key clinical outcomes (mentioned above)?
• Which of the treatment modalities are evaluated as the most salient and helpful by patients who receive the treatment according to their age, gender, psychiatric diagnoses and previous treatment history?

Methods:

A uniform protocol for psychiatric diagnostics and clinical assessment of patients who receive treatment at the participating clinical units will be used. Since some participating clinical units will treat adult patients and some will treat children and adolescents, the protocol will offer assessment instrument suitable for the specific age group whenever this is relevant. The evaluation system includes assessments at baseline before treatment starts, evaluation at several time points during the treatment period, at termination of treatment and at follow-up. Assessments will be made both through interviews and ratings made by therapists and through self-report from patients.

Self-reports will be filled out electronically by patients, on tablets stationed at each participating clinical unit. At intervals patients will also provide self-rated information on dimensions such as emotions, cognitions and impulsive behaviour several times per day through a mobile app developed specifically for the purpose, so-called Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). Interview data and ratings will be entered into the database by each clinician to tablets in a similar fashion as self-report data from patients.

Inclusion criteria

• History of repeated deliberate self harm
• Satisfies criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) Borderline Personality Disorder as measured by Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM (SCID-II) in addition to the self-destructive criterion.

Exclusion criteria

• Psychotic disorders
• Anorexia Nervosa
• Substance dependence disorder
• Mental retardation (IQ less than 70)
• Asperger syndrome/autism