Trauma-focused dialectical behavior therapy: study protocol for a randomized controlled multi-center trial in online...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health Treatment Research
• Trauma-Informed Care

Background:

• Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health condition.
• Standard Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) shows modest effect sizes and limited access.
• Trauma-Focused DBT (TF-DBT) is an adaptation to enhance DBT efficacy and address trauma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of TF-DBT compared to standard DBT (S-DBT) for BPD.
• To assess if TF-DBT is superior to S-DBT across all BPD symptom measures.
• To evaluate the non-inferiority of online versus face-to-face delivery for both treatments.

Main Methods:

• Enrollment of 260 individuals diagnosed with BPD (DSM-5).
• Random assignment to 12 months of outpatient TF-DBT or S-DBT.
• Delivery formats include online and face-to-face options.

Main Results:

• Hypothesized superiority of TF-DBT over S-DBT on BPD symptom measures.
• Hypothesized non-inferiority of online therapy compared to face-to-face treatment.
• Expected results will provide empirical evidence for TF-DBT and online DBT efficacy.

Conclusions:

• TF-DBT is expected to improve psychotherapy efficacy for BPD.
• Findings will enhance understanding of online-delivered DBT treatments.
• The study may contribute to increased accessibility of effective BPD treatment.