Mindfulness and Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills in Borderline Personality Disorder

Randomized, Active-controlled, Clinical Trial Comparing Effects of Mindfulness and Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills in Borderline Personality Disorder

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02397031

Enrollment

Registered

2015-03-24

Start date

2011-09-30

Completion date

2014-04-30

Last updated

2015-03-25

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

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder

Keywords

borderline personality disorder, mindfulness

Brief summary

The purpose of the study was to determine whether mindfulness training could be more effective than another active intervention in reducing borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms. The main hypothesis was that patients allocated to the mindfulness group would show a greater improvement on global BPD symptomatology. As a second objective, we explored some of the possible underlying mechanisms of both active treatments. For that purpose, changes in decentering, mindfulness facets and cognitive processing of social interactions were also evaluated.

Detailed description

The present study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of mindfulness skills (M) versus interpersonal effectiveness skills (IE) on borderline symptoms. For that purpose, a randomized, active-controlled clinical trial was designed. 64 participants with borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis were allocated to mindfulness (n=32) or interpersonal effectiveness skills (n=32). Both interventions were delivered over a 10-week period. The borderline symptom list (BSL-23) was elected as the primary outcome measure. Mindfulness related capacities, decentering and cognitive processing of social interactions were also evaluated with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) and the Multidimensional Scale of Social Expression (EMES-C), respectively. Assessments were conducted pre and post interventions.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALMindfulness

weekly psychotherapy sessions for 10 weeks (120 min each)

BEHAVIORALinterpersonal effectiveness

weekly psychotherapy sessions for 10 weeks (120 min each)

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 45 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Ages between 18 and 45 years * BPD criteria according to two diagnostic interviews (SCID-II and DIB-R)

Exclusion criteria

* Lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia, drug-induced psychosis, organic brain syndrome, bipolar disorder or mental retardation * Participating in any sort of psychotherapy during the study or having participated in dialectical behavioral therapy groups in the past

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
change from baseline in borderline symptoms after a 10 week intervention	10 weeks	participants were assessed pre and post interventions

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
change from baseline in decentering after a 10 week intervention	10 weeks	participants were assessed pre and post interventions
change from baseline in mindfulness facets after a 10 week intervention	10 weeks	participants were assessed pre and post interventions
change from baseline in social interactions after a 10 week intervention	10 weeks	participants were assessed pre and post interventions

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 2, 2026