title: Early Intervention for Borderline Personality Disorder: Psychodynamic Therapy in Adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Borderline personality disorder (BPD) should be understood as a disorder of development (Streeck-Fischer 2008, 2013) that has its first manifestation in late childhood and adolescence. There are only few treatment studies of adolescents meeting the diagnostic criteria of borderline personality disorder, although early interventions for these patients are urgently needed (see Chanen & McCutcheon 2013). We examined the effectiveness of an inpatient psychodynamic therapy (PDT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight adolescents fulfilling the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria of borderline personality disorder were treated with psychodynamic therapy. The mean duration of treatment was 29.87 weeks (SD = 15.88). Outcomes were remission rates, GAF, GSI, SDQ, IIP and BPI scores. Assessments were made at admission and after treatment. Pre-post comparisons and comparisons with normative data were conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of treatment 39.29% of the patients were remitted. We found significant improvements for the GAF, GSI, SDQ, IIP (all p0.001) and the BPI (p = 0.006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These clinically relevant improvements demonstrate the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapy in adolescents with borderline personality disorder and stress the usefulness of an early intervention for these patients.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salzer
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cropp
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Streeck-Fischer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D061345:Early Medical Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D064889:Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic / Q000379:methods*; D012917:Social Adjustment; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Adolescents; Borderline Personality Disorder; Early Intervention; Effectiveness; Psychodynamic Therapy