TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm: a multi-site evaluation in routine care using an uncontrolled open trial design
JO  - BMJ open
A1  - Sahlin, Hanna
A1  - Bjureberg, Johan
A1  - Gratz, Kim L.
A1  - Tull, Matthew T.
A1  - Hedman, Erik
A1  - Bjärehed, Jonas
A1  - Jokinen, Jussi
A1  - Lundh, Lars-Gunnar
A1  - Ljótsson, Brjánn
A1  - Hellner, Clara
SP  - e016220
EP  - e016220
VL  - 7
IS  - 10
N2  - OBJECTIVE: Emotion regulation group therapy (ERGT) has shown promising results in several efficacy trials. However, it has not been evaluated outside a research setting. In order to increase the availability of empirically supported treatments for individuals with borderline personality disorder and deliberate self-harm, an evaluation of ERGT in routine clinical care was conducted with therapists of different professional backgrounds who had received brief intensive training in ERGT prior to trial onset. <br><br>DESIGN: Multi-site evaluation, using an uncontrolled open trial design with assessments at pretreatment, post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. SETTING: 14 adult outpatient psychiatric clinics across Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-five women (mean age=25.1 years) with borderline personality disorder (both threshold and subthreshold) and repeated self-harm were enrolled in the study. Ninety-three per cent of participants completed the post-treatment assessment and 88% completed the follow-up assessment. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was self-harm frequency as measured with the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory. Secondary outcomes included self-harm versatility, emotion dysregulation, other self-destructive behaviours, depression, anxiety, stress symptoms and interpersonal and vocational difficulties. INTERVENTION: ERGT is an adjunctive, 14-week, acceptance-based behavioural group treatment that directly targets both self-harm and its proposed underlying mechanism of emotion dysregulation. <br><br>RESULTS: At post-treatment, intent-to-treat analyses revealed a significant improvement associated with a moderate effect size on the primary outcome of self-harm frequency (51%, reduction; Cohen's d=0.52, p<0.001) as well as significant improvements in the secondary outcomes of self-harm versatility, emotion dysregulation, other self-destructive behaviours and general psychiatric symptomatology. These results were either maintained or further improved on at 6-month follow-up. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: ERGT appears to be a feasible, transportable and useful treatment for deliberate self-harm and other self-destructive behaviours, emotion dysregulation and psychiatric symptoms when delivered by clinicians in the community. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01986257; results.<br><br>© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2044-6055
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016220
ID  - ref1
ER  -