Clinical trial NCT00714311: Efficacy of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
Official title: A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy vs. Treatment by Experienced Community Psychotherapists for Borderline Personality Disorder
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Borderline Personality Disorder
Keywords: borderline personality disorder
randomized controlled trial
Transference-Focused Psychotherapy
treatment by experienced community psychotherapists
Lead sponsor: University Hospital Muenster
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2008-07-14
Enrollment: 104
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 45
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to find out whether Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) is effective in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Detailed description: Borderline personality disorder represents a sever clinical condition that affects 1-2% of the community and is characterized by a pervasive instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, as well as a marked impulsivity; up to 10% of the patients commit suicide.

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) is one psychotherapeutic approach among five that have been manualized and evaluated in RCTs. So far, TFP has not been compared to a control condition which is a crucial step in the evaluation of the efficacy of a psychosocial intervention.

This study is an RCT that compares one year of outpatient TFP to treatment by experienced community psychotherapists for borderline personality disorder.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Written informed consent to the participation in the study
* Diagnosis of BPD according to DSM-IV as assessed using the SCID-II
* Age between 18 and 45 years
* Sufficient knowledge of the German language

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe substance abuse, organic pathology, or mental retardation according to DSM-IV as assessed using the SCID-I
* Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder according to DSM-IV as assessed using the SCID-II

Primary outcomes:
measure: Drop-out
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Suicidality (Suicide Attempts)
timeFrame: 1 year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Psychosocial Functioning (Global Assessment of Functioning, GAF-Score)
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Level of Personality Organization (Structured Interview for Personality Organization, STIPO)
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Number of Self-harming Acts
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Self-assessment of Psychopathology (BDI, STAI, BSI)
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Attachment Style and Reflective Function (Adult Attachment Interview, AAI)
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Borderline Symptomatology (DSM-IV Criteria)
timeFrame: 1 month
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Vienna
country: Austria
facility: Dept. of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna
city: Munich
country: Germany
facility: Dept. of Psychiatry, Technical University of Munich
state: Bavaria
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Muenster, Germany
name: Stephan Doering, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Clarkin JF, Levy KN, Lenzenweger MF, Kernberg OF. Evaluating three treatments for borderline personality disorder: a multiwave study. Am J Psychiatry. 2007 Jun;164(6):922-8. doi: 10.1176/ajp.2007.164.6.922.
citation: Levy KN, Meehan KB, Kelly KM, Reynoso JS, Weber M, Clarkin JF, Kernberg OF. Change in attachment patterns and reflective function in a randomized control trial of transference-focused psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2006 Dec;74(6):1027-1040. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.74.6.1027.
citation: Kernberg OF, Yeomans FE, Clarkin JF, Levy KN. Transference focused psychotherapy: overview and update. Int J Psychoanal. 2008 Jun;89(3):601-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-8315.2008.00046.x.
citation: Witt KG, Hetrick SE, Rajaram G, Hazell P, Taylor Salisbury TL, Townsend E, Hawton K. Psychosocial interventions for self-harm in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Apr 22;4(4):CD013668. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013668.pub2.
citation: Storebo OJ, Stoffers-Winterling JM, Vollm BA, Kongerslev MT, Mattivi JT, Jorgensen MS, Faltinsen E, Todorovac A, Sales CP, Callesen HE, Lieb K, Simonsen E. Psychological therapies for people with borderline personality disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 May 4;5(5):CD012955. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012955.pub2.
citation: Doering S, Horz S, Rentrop M, Fischer-Kern M, Schuster P, Benecke C, Buchheim A, Martius P, Buchheim P. Transference-focused psychotherapy v. treatment by community psychotherapists for borderline personality disorder: randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry. 2010 May;196(5):389-95. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.070177.