The goal of this project is to test the efficacy of a new cognitive-behavioral systems-based group treatment for persons with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to compare it to """"""""treatment as usual"""""""" (TAU). We elected to modify a program originally developed by Bartels and Crotty. This led us to develop STEPPS, an acronym that stands for Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving. Briefly, the program involves both cognitive-behavioral techniques and skills training combined with a systems component; the latter involves the patients with BPD and those in their system, including family members, friends, and health care professionals. STEPPS involves twenty 2-hour group meetings with two facilitators; the therapy is manual-based and each week specific goals are set. We propose to recruit approximately 160 adults with DSM-IV BPD during the first 2 1/2 years of the project. Subjects will be recruited through referral from area psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health clinics, and hospitals. Subjects will be screened using the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R) and relevant sections of the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SIDP-IV). Appropriate subjects meeting specified inclusion/exclusion criteria will be randomized to STEPPS or TAU. Subjects in both groups will be allowed to continue to see their psychiatrist, take psychotropic medication, and continue with other therapy. Baseline assessments will include the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, the SIDP- IV, the Hollingshead Scale, the Social Adjustment Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Positive and Negative Affectivity Scale, the Symptom Checklist-90-R, the Barrett Impulsivity Scale, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form Health Survey. A new self-rated scale, the Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST), will also be used to rate BPD symptoms. Subjects will be assessed at baseline, and at weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. Lay and professional support system members (informants) will be asked to rate the subjects progress at specified intervals. Satisfaction with STEPPS and TAU will be assessed in informants and subjects at the conclusion of the trial. Therapy fidelity will be maintained through regular supervision, and blind ratings of videotaped sessions. Subjects randomized to STEPPS will be followed up at months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 post-study completion. We hypothesize that subjects participating in STEPPS will have better symptomatic improvement than subjects receiving TAU; improvement will include greater mood stability, less deliberate self-harm, less anger/impulsivity, and lower rates of health care utilization. We hypothesize that the gains of STEPPS will be maintained over 1 year. These findings should add to our understanding of the appropriate clinical management of BPD. If the efficacy of STEPPS is confirmed, future studies will include larger samples to help test whether specific subgroups will preferentially respond, and comparisons of STEPPS to other programs, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH063746-03
Application #
6761735
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZMH1-NRB-G (02))
Program Officer
Kozak, Michael J
Project Start
2002-07-09
Project End
2006-06-30
Budget Start
2004-07-01
Budget End
2005-06-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$453,577
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Iowa
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
062761671
City
Iowa City
State
IA
Country
United States
Zip Code
52242
Black, Donald W; Blum, Nancee; Allen, Jeff (2018) STEPPS treatment programme for borderline personality disorder: Which scale items improve? An item-level analysis. Personal Ment Health 12:345-354
Black, Donald W; Blum, Nancee; Allen, Jeff (2018) Does response to the STEPPS program differ by sex, age, or race in offenders with borderline personality disorder? Compr Psychiatry 87:134-137
Black, Donald W; Simsek-Duran, Fatma; Blum, Nancee et al. (2016) Do people with borderline personality disorder complicated by antisocial personality disorder benefit from the STEPPS treatment program? Personal Ment Health 10:205-15
Goodwin, Renee D (2011) Association between infection early in life and mental disorders among youth in the community: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 11:878
Pfohl, Bruce; Blum, Nancee; St John, Don et al. (2009) Reliability and validity of the Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time (BEST): a self-rated scale to measure severity and change in persons with borderline personality disorder. J Pers Disord 23:281-93
Black, D W; Allen, J; St John, D et al. (2009) Predictors of response to Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) for borderline personality disorder: an exploratory study. Acta Psychiatr Scand 120:53-61
Blum, Nancee; St John, Don; Pfohl, Bruce et al. (2008) Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) for outpatients with borderline personality disorder: a randomized controlled trial and 1-year follow-up. Am J Psychiatry 165:468-78
McCormick, Brett; Blum, Nancee; Hansel, Rebecca et al. (2007) Relationship of sex to symptom severity, psychiatric comorbidity, and health care utilization in 163 subjects with borderline personality disorder. Compr Psychiatry 48:406-12
Goodwin, Renee D (2007) Environmental tobacco smoke and the epidemic of asthma in children: the role of cigarette use. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 98:447-54
Black, Donald W; Blum, Nancee; Letuchy, Elena et al. (2006) Borderline personality disorder and traits in veterans: psychiatric comorbidity, healthcare utilization, and quality of life along a continuum of severity. CNS Spectr 11:680-9; quiz 719

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