Metacognitive Interpersonal Group Therapy for Adolescents With Personality Disorders: Results From the METAMIND-A...

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Adolescent Mental Health

Background:

• Personality disorders (PDs) significantly impact adolescent psychosocial functioning.
• Evidence-based treatments tailored for adolescents with PDs are needed.
• Metacognitive and interpersonal deficits are common in adolescent PDs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of Metacognitive Interpersonal Group Therapy for Adolescents (MIT-GA).
• To compare MIT-GA with a waiting list plus treatment-as-usual (WL+TAU) control condition.
• To explore potential mechanisms of change associated with MIT-GA.

Main Methods:

• Pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 100 adolescents (14-18 years) with DSM-IV PDs.
• Participants were randomized to 4 months of MIT-GA or WL+TAU.
• Outcomes included treatment acceptability, psychosocial functioning (CGAS, IIP-64), symptom severity (SCL-90-R GSI), depression (Y-BDI), caregiver stress (PSS), parental self-efficacy (BPSES), metacognition (MAS-A), alexithymia (TAS-20), and impulsivity (BIS-11).

Main Results:

• MIT-GA demonstrated feasibility and acceptability.
• Participants in the MIT-GA group showed significantly greater improvements in psychosocial functioning (d = 0.80) and reduced caregiver stress (d = 0.65) compared to the WL+TAU group.
• MIT-GA was associated with improvements in metacognition, alexithymia, and attentional impulsivity, with no significant differences in overall symptom severity.
• No adverse events were reported during the trial.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the feasibility and potential utility of MIT-GA for adolescents diagnosed with PDs.
• MIT-GA may be a promising intervention for improving psychosocial functioning and reducing parental stress in this population.
• Further research is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings in larger, diverse samples.