TUESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Intensive talk therapy, called transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), can help reduce symptoms and improve social functioning in individuals with borderline personality disorder, according to a report in the June issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
John F. Clarkin, Ph.D., of Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City, and colleagues compared outcomes in 90 patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder who were randomized to one of three treatments: TFP, dialectical behavior therapy or dynamic supportive treatment. Suicidal behavior, aggression, impulsivity, anxiety, depression and social adjustment were measured in a multiwave study design at baseline and four-month intervals during one-year of treatment.
All three treatment groups showed improvement in depression, anxiety, global functioning and social adjustment at one year, while only TFP and dialectical therapy showed improvement in suicidality, and TFP and supportive care showed improvement in anger. TFP alone was predictive of change in irritability and verbal and direct assault.
"The general equivalence of outcome across the three treatments studied suggests that there may be different routes to symptom change in patients with borderline personality disorder," the authors write. However, "transference-focused psychotherapy effects were observed across a broader range of outcome domains than dialectical behavior therapy and supportive treatment."
Abstract
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