Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder With Psychoanalytically Oriented Partial Hospitalization: An 18-Month Follow-Up

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether the substantial gains made by patients with borderline personality disorder following completion of a psychoanalytically oriented partial hospitalization program, in comparison to patients treated with standard psychiatric care, were maintained over an 18-month follow-up period. METHOD: Forty-four patients who participated in the original study were assessed every 3 months after completion of the treatment phase. Outcome measures included frequency of suicide attempts and acts of self-harm, number and duration of inpatient admissions, service utilization, and self-reported measures of depression, anxiety, general symptom distress, interpersonal functioning, and social adjustment. RESULTS: Patients who completed the partial hospitalization program not only maintained their substantial gains but also showed a statistically significant continued improvement on most measures in contrast to the patients treated with standard psychiatric care, who showed only limited change during the same period. CONCLUSIONS: The superiority of psychoanalytically oriented partial hospitalization over standard psychiatric treatment found in a previous randomized, controlled trial was maintained over an 18-month follow-up period. Continued improvement in social and interpersonal functioning suggests that longer-term changes were stimulated.