Abstract
(1) Background: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is the recommended treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) symptoms in adults, however, research investigating the effectiveness of DBT for adolescents is limited. The present study explores the experiences of young people and their parents/carers of a DBT service using qualitative methodology. (2) Methods: Young people and their parents/carers, who completed DBT within the National and Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health DBT Service based at the Maudsley Hospital in London, were asked questions regarding their experience of the service. Data was collected from young people who completed treatment between July 2019 and July 2020 (n = 18) and their parents and carers (n = 7). (3) Results: Amongst young people, the themes identified were: a new way of living, better understanding of self, new skills, person-centred approach, and relationships with others. Parent and carer interviews revealed themes of improved relationships, feeling supported, improved quality of life, and time/timing. (4) Conclusions: Young people reported improvements in emerging BPD symptomology after completing DBT. Parents and carers reported improvements in their young person and families since starting DBT. A longer DBT programme, earlier DBT intervention, and the time-consuming nature of DBT were highlighted as areas for improvement.
Highlights
Published: 31 May 2021Adolescence is a critical period in which mental health conditions can emerge
The aim of the present study is to investigate adolescent service users’ and their parents’/carers’ experiences of a comprehensive outpatient Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) programme at the National and Specialist CAMHS DBT Service in the South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS
Young people included in this sample had an average score of 8.94 (SD = 0.94) with a median of 9.00 on the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) (MSI-BPD) [26]
Summary
Adolescence is a critical period in which mental health conditions can emerge. Research shows that self-harm is a symptom that can precede a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)/Emotionally Unstable Personality. Linehan’s [4] biosocial theory of BPD is a transactional model used to understand the aetiology and pathology of BPD. According to this model, BPD is characterised mainly as a disorder of emotion dysregulation and develops in individuals with a combination of a biological disposition, an objective or subjective invalidating environment, and the transactions between the two during key developmental periods [4]. Linehan’s biosocial theory [4] proposes that individuals with BPD experience problems with regulating many emotions largely due to the predisposed vulnerability to difficult emotions and maladaptive learned emotion modulation strategies
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