Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Emotion Regulation and Quality of Life among Women with Borderline Personality Disorder in Shahr-e-Kord, Iran, in 2015

Individuals with borderline personality disorder have many problems in emotion regulation and quality of life. Regarding this, the aim of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy on the improvement of emotion regulation and quality of life among women with borderline personality disorder in Shahr-e Kord, Iran, in 2015.

This semi-experimental study was conducted on women with borderline personality disorder referring to the psychology and counseling centers of Shahr-e Kord city in 2015 using a pretest-posttest control group design. The study population was selected using convenience sampling technique out of the women voluntarily participating in a treatment course held by the researchers. The inclusion criteria were: 1) borderline personality diagnosis based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, 2) a minimum of high school education (diploma degree), 3) age range of 20-40 years, and 4) at least one suicide attempt. The participants were then randomly assigned into two groups of intervention (n=10) and control (n=10). The intervention group was subjected to eight 90-minute sessions of dialectical behavior therapy; however, the control group received no intervention. The data were collected using the Emotion Regulation Scale and Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 18) using covariance.

According to the results, there was a significant difference between the control and intervention groups in terms of emotion regulation (F=7.61, P=0.01) and quality of life (F=13.68, P=0.001) after the intervention.

Based on the findings, it seems that dialectical behavior therapy improved the emotion regulation and quality of life among the women with borderline personality disorder