Cited by 66Personality Disorders and PsychopathologyFamily Caregiving in Mental IllnessCounseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics

Family Connections versus optimised treatment-as-usual for family members of individuals with borderline personality disorder: non-randomised controlled study

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Flynn, Daniel, Kells, Mary, Joyce, Mary, Corcoran, Paul, Herley, Sarah, Suarez, Catalina, Cotter, Padraig, Hurley, Justina +2 more·2017·Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation

Abstract

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is challenging for family members who are often required to fulfil multiple roles such as those of advocate, caregiver, coach and guardian. To date, two uncontrolled studies by the treatment developers suggest that Family Connections (FC) is an effective programme to support, educate and teach skills to family members of individuals with BPD. However, such studies have been limited by lack of comparison to other treatment approaches. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of FC with an optimised treatment-as-usual (OTAU) programme for family members of individuals with BPD. A secondary aim was to introduce a long term follow-up to investigate if positive gains from the intervention would be maintained following programme completion. This study was a non-randomised controlled study, with assessment of outcomes at baseline (pre-intervention) and end of programme (post-intervention) for both FC and OTAU groups, and at follow-up (3 months post-intervention; 12 or 19 months post-intervention) for the FC group. Eighty family members participated in the FC ( n = 51) and the OTAU ( n = 29) programmes. Outcome measures included burden, grief, depression and mastery. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess baseline differences in the outcome measures by gender, age group and type of relationship to the individual with BPD. Linear mixed-effects models were also used to estimate the treatment effect (FC versus OTAU) utilising all available data from baseline and end of programme. The FC group showed changes indicating significant improvement with respect to all four outcome measures ( p < 0.001). The OTAU group showed changes in the same direction as the intervention group but none of the changes were statistically significant. The intervention effect was statistically significant for total burden (including both subscales; p = .02 for subjective burden and p = .048 for objective burden) and grief ( p = 0.013). Improvements were maintained at follow-up for FC participants. The findings of the current study indicate that FC results in statistically significant improvements on key measures while OTAU does not yield comparable changes. Lack of significant change on all measures for OTAU suggests that a three session psycho-education programme is of limited benefit. Further research is warranted on programme components and long-term supports for family members.

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  1. [2]Kuo JR Korslund KE Linehan M Carr A McNulty M Borderline personality disorder The handbook of adult clinical psychology: an evidence-based practice approach 2006 London Routledge 897 940
  2. [20]Fruzzetti AE Santisteban DA Hoffman PD Dimeff LA Koerner K Dialectical behaviour therapy with families Dialectical behaviour therapy in clinical practice: applications across disorders and settings 2007 New York Guilford Press 222 245

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Authors
Flynn, D., Kells, M., Joyce, M., Corcoran, P., Herley, S., Suarez, C., Cotter, P., Hurley, J., Weihrauch, M., & Groeger, J.
Affiliations
  • Health Service Executive (IE)
  • University College Cork (IE)
Corresponding author
Joyce, Mary
Venue
Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation
Published
2017-08-30
Volume
4
Issue
1
Pages
18-18
ISSN
2051-6673 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2753899139
Cited by
66
References
19
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 2
FWCI
5.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
  • Cork Open Research Archive (University College Cork, Ireland) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Cork Open Research Archive (University College Cork, Ireland) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Lenus, The Irish Health Repository (Dr Steevens Hospital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Office for Suicide Prevention
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family Caregiving in Mental Illness
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Counseling, Therapy, and Family Dynamics
Keywords
borderline personality disorder, family members, caregiver burden, grief, depression, mastery, psychoeducation, family intervention, long-term follow-up, treatment effects

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