Dialectical behavior therapy skills for transdiagnostic emotion dysregulation: A pilot randomized controlled trial
Section snippets
Participants and design
Intent-to-treat (ITT) participants were 44 men and women from a metropolitan area in the Northwestern United States. Participants were included if they were older than 18 years of age, scored high in emotion dysregulation (above 96 on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale; DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and met criteria for at least one current depressive or anxiety disorder on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I; First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 1995).
Sample characteristics and baseline differences
ITT participants were primarily single, heterosexual, Caucasian women who met criteria for multiple Axis I disorders (Mdiagnoses = 2.68, SD = 1.21 in DBT-ST; Mdiagnoses = 2.59, SD = 1.44 in ASG). Current GAD, MDD, and dysthymia were the most frequent diagnoses. Randomization successfully matched participants on gender, psychotropic medication use, and primary diagnosis. No significant demographic differences emerged (Table 2). At pretreatment, 18 participants (40.9% in each condition) reported
Discussion
The present study is a preliminary examination of DBT skills training (DBT-ST) as a stand-alone treatment for emotion dysregulation in a transdiagnostic sample. Compared with a supportive therapy control condition (ASG), DBT-ST was superior in reducing emotion dysregulation, increasing skills use, and reducing anxiety severity in adults who met criteria for depressive and/or anxiety disorders. Although DBT-ST was comparable to ASG in reducing depression severity, recovery from depression was
Author statement
Marsha M. Linehan receives royalties from Guilford Press for books she has written on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Marsha M. Linehan and Andrada D. Neacsiu receive fees for DBT trainings. Data was also presented as part of the first author's doctoral dissertation and in conference talks.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by an American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award granted to the first author. The authors would like to thank the therapists and clients who took part in this study and to acknowledge Megan Smith, Laura Murphy, Sara Miller, Annika Benedetto, William Kuo, Dan Finnegan, Kevin King, Heidi Heard, Peter P. Vitaliano, and Nancy Whitney for their contributions. We would like to thank Moria Smoski, M. Zachary Rosenthal, and Clive Robins for feedback on
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