Evaluation of Inpatient Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder – a Prospective Study

Hypothesizing the course of therapy could be accelerated & improved by an inpatient setting at the beginning of outpatient therapy, the authors developed a treatment program of inpatient therapy for this patient group according to the guidelines of dialectical-behavioral therapy. 24 female patients were compared at admission to the hospital & 1 month after discharge with respect to psychopathology & frequency of self-injuries. A highly significant decrease in the number of parasuicidal acts was reported. Analysis of the average effect sizes shows a strong effect which prompts the development of a randomized controlled design. (18 refs.)