Background Dialectical behaviour

therapy (DBT) iswidelyconsideredtobe a promising treatment for borderline personalitydisorder (BPD).However, the evidence for its efficacypublished thus far should be regarded as preliminary. Aims To compare the effectiveness of DBTwithtreatment asusual for patients with BPDand to examine the impactof baseline severityon effectiveness. Method Fifty-eightwomenwith BPD wererandomly assigned to either12 months of DBTor usual treatment in a randomised controlled study.Participants wererecruited through clinicalreferrals fromboth addictiontreatment and psychiatric services.Outcomemeasures included treatmentretention and the course of suicidal, self-mutilatingand self-damaging impulsive behaviours. Results Dialecticalbehaviour therapy resulted in better retentionrates and greater reductions of self-mutilatingand self-damaging impulsive behaviours comparedwithusualtreatment, especially among thosewith a historyof frequent self-mutilation. Conclusions Dialectical behaviour therapyis superior to usual treatment in reducinghigh-riskbehaviours inpatients with BPD