Citation

Kleindienst N, Limberger MF, Schmahl C, Steil R, Ebner-Priemer UW, Bohus M. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 2008; 196(11): 847-851.

Affiliation

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/NMD.0b013e31818b481d

PMID

19008737

Abstract

Three months of inpatient dialectical behavior therapy proved to be highly effective in patients with borderline personality disorder. This study investigates whether the effects of DBT persist after the patients returned to their usual lives. Thirty-one patients with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (DSM-IV) were prospectively followed-up for an observation period of 21 months after discharge from the DBT program, under naturalistic conditions.Improvements as observed after discharge persisted over the full follow-up period. This is reflected in a steady rate of remitted patients and in a broad range of psychopathology showing statistically and clinically significant effect-sizes ranging from 0.70 to 1.71. Analyses of courses over time revealed a high intraindividual concordance, indicating that short term treatment response predicted remission after 2 years follow-up. The effects of inpatient dialectical behavior therapy seem to persist after patients returned to their usual lives.

Language: en