Interventions for Family Members and Carers of Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder

A Systematic Review

Bibliographic Data

ID21320053
AuthorsVerónica Guillén (0000-0003-2247-5210, Department of Personality, Evaluation, and Psychological Treatment University of Valencia València Spain), Amanda Díaz‐García (0000-0003-4398-4014, Department of Basic Psychology, Clinical and Psychobiology Jaume I University Castellón Spain), Adriana Mira (0000-0003-4394-5322, Department of Personality, Evaluation, and Psychological Treatment University of Valencia València Spain), Azucena García‐Palacios (0000-0001-9250-8714, CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Madrid Spain), Tamara Escrivá‐Martínez (0000-0001-6632-8402, Department of Personality, Evaluation, and Psychological Treatment University of Valencia València Spain), Rosa Baños (0000-0003-0626-7665, Department of Personality, Evaluation, and Psychological Treatment University of Valencia València Spain), Cristina Botella (0000-0001-8783-6959, CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Madrid Spain)
Year2021
Volume60
Issue1
Pages134-144
Publication date2021-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFamily Process (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-7370 • E-ISSN: 1545-5300
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/famp.12537
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited41

Carers of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience high levels of distress. Several studies have been carried out on interventions designed to decrease their burden. However, the evidence from these studies has not been summarized. The objective of this work is to explore the clinical utility of interventions developed for family members of patients with BPD. A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines (registration number CRD42018107318), including psychological interventions focused on relatives of patients with BPD. The following databases were used: PsycINFO, PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Web of Science. Two independent researchers reviewed the studies to determine whether the eligibility criteria were met. A total of 2,303 abstracts were identified. After duplicates had been removed, 1,746 studies were screened. Finally, 433 full‐text articles were reviewed, yielding 11 studies that satisfied the inclusion criteria. Results show that these interventions with different clinical formats and settings are effective. The quality of the included studies varies, and the empirical support for these programs is still preliminary. The results help to establish a general framework for interventions specifically developed for family members of patients with BPD, but additional efforts should be made to improve the methodological quality of this field of research and more solidly determine the utility of these interventions. Given the paucity of data so far, this information may open up new lines of research to improve the effectiveness of future programs for carers of patients with BPD and help to reduce their burden