Chapter 15 - A review of the empirical evidence for DBT skills training as a stand-alone intervention

Abstract

Although there is small, but growing empirical evidence for the use of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) skills training as a stand-alone treatment, it is widely administered to an array of populations in various settings. Building upon a previous review, this systematic review identifies 31 additional studies testing the effect of DBT skills training as a stand-alone intervention. Our findings indicate that stand-alone DBT skills training may improve a variety of outcomes and may have some utility as a transdiagnostic treatment approach. However, due to methodological limitations we describe here, it remains unclear whether DBT skills training is as effective as standard DBT or other disorder-specific evidence-based treatments. We present an overview of how stand-alone DBT skills training is being implemented and examined by researchers, describe main clinical findings, and discuss limitations and recommendations for future research.