Brief Education Supported Treatment for adolescent borderline personality disorder

Brief Education Supported Treatment (BEST) for adolescent borderline personality disorder: a feasibility study of delivery of specialised early intervention for borderline personality disorder through collaboration with education providers, incorporating a feasibility randomised controlled trial

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN16862589

Enrollment

Registered

2019-02-11

Start date

2019-01-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-09-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and self-harm Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

This study investigates a brief intervention that aims to equip education professionals with the knowledge and skills to support pupils with symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) who self-

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Aged 13-18 years (school years 9-13) 2. Enrolled at a participating school/college 3. Score above 34 on the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children 4. History of repeated self-harm assessed using the self-harm subscale of the Risk Taking and Self Harm Inventory for Adolescents (has intentionally harmed him/herself more than once) 5. Able to provide written informed consent or, for under 16s, written informed assent and parent/guardian consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Currently receiving inpatient treatment or specific psychological intervention 2. Moderate/severe learning disability 3. Current psychotic disorder (those with sub-threshold psychotic symptoms will not be excluded) or substance dependence requiring care planned treatment (substance abuse will not be an exclusion criterion)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
As this is a feasibility trial, the primary output will be the design of the subsequent definitive trial. A number of feasibility outcomes will be assessed to facilitate this output, including: 1. Recruitment rate: the ability to recruit participants to time and target 2. Retention rate: the ability to retain participants in the trial post randomisation, measured at 12 week and 24 week follow up 3. The ability of staff to deliver the intervention as intended, and the acceptability of the intervention from the perspective of staff and young people. Video/audio recordings of treatment sessions will be made and rated against the intervention adherence checklist. In-depth interviews will be conducted with a subsample of participants after the conclusion of their intervention to assess acceptability from the perspective of young people taking part and staff involved in intervention delivery will be invited to take part in focus groups at the end of each phase of the study. 4. The degree of contamination of the control arm, i.e. the extent to which participants randomised to the control arm receive elements of the trial intervention. Contamination will be assessed via staff logs of contact with control arm participants, observations within schools and colleges, in-depth interviews with a subsample of control arm participants, and staff focus groups 5. The acceptability and suitability of the proposed outcome measures. The rate of completion of each outcome measure at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks will be calculated. Qualitative information about acceptability of the measures will be gathered via in-depth interviews with participants. In addition, the usefulness of the EQ-5D-5L in adolescents with BPD symptoms will be explored by comparing EQ-5D-5L scores with other study outcome measures.	—

Measure

Time frame

As this is a feasibility trial, the primary output will be the design of the subsequent definitive trial. A number of feasibility outcomes will be assessed to facilitate this output, including: 1. Recruitment rate: the ability to recruit participants to time and target 2. Retention rate: the ability to retain participants in the trial post randomisation, measured at 12 week and 24 week follow up 3. The ability of staff to deliver the intervention as intended, and the acceptability of the intervention from the perspective of staff and young people. Video/audio recordings of treatment sessions will be made and rated against the intervention adherence checklist. In-depth interviews will be conducted with a subsample of participants after the conclusion of their intervention to assess acceptability from the perspective of young people taking part and staff involved in intervention delivery will be invited to take part in focus groups at the end of each phase of the study. 4. The degree of contamination of the control arm, i.e. the extent to which participants randomised to the control arm receive elements of the trial intervention. Contamination will be assessed via staff logs of contact with control arm participants, observations within schools and colleges, in-depth interviews with a subsample of control arm participants, and staff focus groups 5. The acceptability and suitability of the proposed outcome measures. The rate of completion of each outcome measure at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks will be calculated. Qualitative information about acceptability of the measures will be gathered via in-depth interviews with participants. In addition, the usefulness of the EQ-5D-5L in adolescents with BPD symptoms will be explored by comparing EQ-5D-5L scores with other study outcome measures.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
The proposed primary outcome measure for the definitive trial is severity of borderline personality features measured using the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-C). In this feasibility trial, the BPFS-C will be administered at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks. In addition, the following data will be collected at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks: 1. Self-reported self-harm measured using the Risk Taking and Self Harm Inventory for Adolescents 2. Self-reported emotional dysregulation measured using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale 3. Perceived social support measured Childhood and Adolescent Social Support Scale 4. Time spent engaged in structured activity measured using the Time Use Survey 5. Health status measured using the EQ-5D-5L 6. Use of health and social care services measured using a modified version of the Client Service Receipt Inventory 7. School/college attendance and exclusions assessed using data on attendance and fixed-term and permanent exclusions collected by the participants school or college	—

Measure

Time frame

The proposed primary outcome measure for the definitive trial is severity of borderline personality features measured using the Borderline Personality Features Scale for Children (BPFS-C). In this feasibility trial, the BPFS-C will be administered at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks. In addition, the following data will be collected at baseline, 12 and 24 weeks: 1. Self-reported self-harm measured using the Risk Taking and Self Harm Inventory for Adolescents 2. Self-reported emotional dysregulation measured using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale 3. Perceived social support measured Childhood and Adolescent Social Support Scale 4. Time spent engaged in structured activity measured using the Time Use Survey 5. Health status measured using the EQ-5D-5L 6. Use of health and social care services measured using a modified version of the Client Service Receipt Inventory 7. School/college attendance and exclusions assessed using data on attendance and fixed-term and permanent exclusions collected by the participants school or college

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Countries

England, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 10, 2026