Effects of Motive-Oriented Therapeutic Relationship in the Early-Phase Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The present research aims at examining the effectiveness of a specific set of therapist relational interventions and attitudes, called the Motive-Oriented Therapeutic Relationship (MOTR), based on Plan Analysis (Caspar, 2007) in the early-phase treatment of patients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. The investigators intend to include N = 80 outpatients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, consulting at the Outpatient Personality Disorder Program of the Karl Jaspers Clinical Unit, in collaboration with the Institute of Psychotherapy, at the Department of Psychiatry-CHUV, University of Lausanne and in collaboration with the University of Berne, Switzerland. Patients are assigned by chance to two treatment conditions 1) Control condition (General Psychiatric Management; Gunderson & Links, 2008) and 2) MOTR-condition. The investigators hypothesize better results in the MOTR-condition, as compared to the control condition in terms of symptom reduction pre-post. The conduct of the study represents a significant contribution to the understanding and enhancement of relationship aspects in the treatment of patients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder which may be of potential benefit for these patients.

Conditions
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Borderline Personality Disorder

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Psychiatric Management
* Behavioral: Motive-oriented therapeutic relationship/Plan Analysis


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: DSM-IV Borderline Personality Disorder; between 18 and 65 yrs of age Exclusion Criteria: DSM-IV psychotic disorders, mental retardation, substance abuse in the forefront

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: General Psychiatric Management (GPM; Gunderson & Links, 2008)<br>psychodynamic-psychiatric treatment for borderline personality disorder | Behavioral: Psychiatric Management<br> <br> |
| Experimental: GPM plus Motive-Oriented Therapeutic Relationship<br>use of Plan Analysis and Motive-oriented therapeutic relationship, as add-on variable to GPM | Behavioral: Psychiatric Management<br> <br> Behavioral: Motive-oriented therapeutic relationship/Plan Analysis<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Outcome Questionnaire -45.2 (Lambert et al., 2004) | pre- post- intervention in a randomized controlle trial; measure of symptom reduction over 3 months | 3 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (Horowitz et al., 1988) | Measure of interpersonal problems after 3 months of therapy | 3 months |