Evaluation of AIT Study

NCT02518906 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: EAST
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 3 countries
• Sites: 3

Brief Summary

Specialized treatment of personality disorders (PD) in youth has been neglected for a long time, because these disorders were not diagnosed before the age of 18. Since 2013 the age threshold has been dropped in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)-5, and such change is also announced for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11. There is broad consensus from both scientific evidence and clinical experience that specialized early interventions in adolescents with PD are urgently needed. In the last decades a number of specialized psychotherapeutic treatment programs have been developed. Despite their conceptual differences, many of the treatment models have shown significant effects in the treatment of PD in adults. However, the treatment of adolescents with PD remains difficult and further enhancement and development of treatments is needed. Given the different therapeutic approaches available, the present project aims to go beyond the comparison of integral therapeutic models in the classical outcome study design. While outcome research is important to build on the evidence of the effectiveness of an intervention, it contributes little to its understanding and refinement. The aim of the present multi-center project is to compare two therapeutic methods used in routine care:

• Adolescent Identity Treatment (AIT)
• Dialectic Behavioral Treatment for Adolescents (DBT-A) Treatments will be performed at different study centers and compared using the same measures of outcome. The main outcome will be psychosocial functioning. Additionally, the psychotherapy process will be investigated to explore specific and unspecific mechanisms of the therapeutic process, its outcome and mediators.

Conditions

Personality Disorders; Borderline Personality Disorder

Keywords

Psychotherapy; psychotherapy process; therapeutic alliance; psychotherapeutic change; psychophysiology

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS)

  Psychosocial functioning. Rated considering the results of the Columbia Impairment Scale - parent and patient versions

  Baseline, 12 months after Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (18)

• Psychosocial functioning

  Baseline, 12 months after Baseline

• School functioning

  Baseline, 12 months after Baseline

• Change in Psychopathology

  Baseline, 12 months after Baseline (only Basel and Heidelberg)

• Change in Severity of Psychopathology

  Baseline, 12 months after Baseline

• Change in Depression

  Baseline, 12 months after Baseline

Study Arms (2)

Adolescent Identity Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

Psychotherapeutic treatment performed routinely at the centres in Basel and Santiago de Chile

Behavioral: Adolescent Identity Treatment

DBT-A

EXPERIMENTAL

Psychotherapeutic treatment performed routinely at the centre in Heidelberg

Behavioral: DBT-A

Interventions

Adolescent Identity Treatment BEHAVIORAL

Integrative Approach for the treatment of adolescents with Personality Disorder. Manual was published in 2013.

Adolescent Identity Treatment

DBT-A BEHAVIORAL

Dialectic Behavioral Treatment for Adolescents is the most commonly used Approach for the Treatment of adolescents with Boderline Personality Disorder

DBT-A

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Identity Diffusion (AIDA T-score \> 60)
• borderline Criteria (SKID-II)

You may not qualify if:

• intelligence quotient (IQ) \< 80
• psychotic disorder
• pervasive developmental disorders
• heavy and persistent substance abuse
• major somatic or neurological disease
• hospital treatment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Klaus Schmeck: lead
• Heidelberg University: collaborator
• Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile: collaborator

Study Sites (3)

Millennium Institute for Research in Depression and Personality - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Santiago, Chile

Location

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg

Heidelberg, Germany

Location

Psychiatric Universitiy Hospital Basel

Basel, 4056, Switzerland

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Schmeck K, Weise S, Schluter-Muller S, Birkholzer M, Furer L, Koenig J, Krause M, Lerch S, Schenk N, Valdes N, Zimmermann R, Kaess M. Effectiveness of adolescent identity treatment (AIT) versus DBT-a for the treatment of adolescent borderline personality disorder. Personal Disord. 2023 Mar;14(2):148-160. doi: 10.1037/per0000572. Epub 2022 May 19.

  PMID: 35587408 DERIVED

• Zimmermann R, Furer L, Schenk N, Koenig J, Roth V, Schluter-Muller S, Kaess M, Schmeck K. Silence in the psychotherapy of adolescents with borderline personality pathology. Personal Disord. 2021 Mar;12(2):160-170. doi: 10.1037/per0000402. Epub 2020 Apr 23.

  PMID: 32324008 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Personality Disorders; Borderline Personality Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Klaus Schmeck, Prof.

  University Basel

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2015
• First Posted: August 10, 2015
• Study Start: September 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2019
• Study Completion: November 1, 2020
• Last Updated: April 20, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CH (1); DE (1); CL (1)