Citation

Andreoli A, Burnand Y, Frambati L, Manning D, Frances A. J. Personal. Disord. 2019; ePub(ePub): 1-11.

Affiliation

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (Emeritus).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Guilford Publications)

DOI

10.1521/pedi_2019_33_423

PMID

30785852

Abstract

The authors present the results from a 3-year follow-up among 170 patients who had participated in the original randomized study, which consisted of three treatment conditions: (a) 3-month abandonment psychotherapy (AP) delivered by certified psychotherapists, (b) AP delivered by nurses, and (c) treatment as usual in a psychiatric crisis center. All subjects were recruited at the emergency room after a suicide attempt and met diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder and major depression. Psychotic symptoms, bipolar disorder, and mental retardation were exclusion criteria. At 3-year follow-up, 134 (78.8%) subjects had blind, reliable assessment by clinical psychologists. The intent-to-treat analysis indicated that those patients who had received AP during acute treatment had better global functioning, improved work adjustment, and less unemployment/disability at 3-year follow-up. No differences were found as a function of type of therapist delivering AP. The data confirm that short-term AP gains in psychosocial functioning are sustained over the longer term.

Language: en

Keywords

borderline personality disorder; employment; follow-up; functional impairment; psychotherapy