An interventional study of Transference-focused Psychotherapy (TFP) in Borderline Personality Disorder, sponsored by Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 35 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-02-16.
Sponsored by Weill Medical College of Cornell University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Among 81 studies in Borderline Personality Disorder with a site in United States — 15 open to participants now, 17 under way, none of them phase 3. Borderline Personality Disorder · United States.
Among the 81 studies in Borderline Personality Disorder with a site in United States, this one is the 33rd largest by enrollment of the 71 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 2 that started in 2016, is one of 39 with no phase, and was the 41st registered.
278 studies on the registry are indexed under Borderline Personality Disorder; 70 are open to participants now.
Browse Borderline Personality Disorder studies →15 of the 81 studies in Borderline Personality Disorder with a site in United States are open now. Recruiting first, the newest first:
Massachusetts General Hospital · Sites in United States
Ages 22–65
Mclean Hospital · Sites in United States
Ages 18+
Yale University · Sites in United States
Ages 18–60
University of California, Los Angeles · Sites in United States
Ages 18–65
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · Sites in United States
Ages 18–55
A study can be open while its sites in United States have not opened yet or have stopped. Only those recruiting at a site in United States →
Of the 49 Borderline Personality Disorder studies recruiting now, 18 (37%) set no upper age limit and 30 (61%) stop at 75 or younger; 8 take children under 18; 11 take healthy volunteers.
This study: 18 Years to 35 Years · female · no healthy volunteers.
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81 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.
A study in two phases is counted once above. Listed by phase, each with its combined phases: Phase 1 7 · Phase 2 19 · Phase 3 6 · Phase 4 6
First in 1997; this study’s year is marked. 2 started in 2016.
By drug class, each counting the studies that test any of its medicines:
This study's enrollment of 61 is below the median of 70 across 221 interventional studies indexed under Borderline Personality Disorder.
Median enrollment 56 across the 71 interventional studies, 48 across the 7 observational. Of the 57 that completed or were terminated, 22 (39%) have results posted.
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9 of 81 have an industry lead sponsor. The 10 most frequent:
Weill Medical College of Cornell University is the lead sponsor of 892 studies on the registry; 165 are open to participants now.
Of its 123 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 94 (76%) have results posted.
Weill Medical College of Cornell University has 1 study filed under Borderline Personality Disorder — fewer than ten, so there is no comparison to draw.
7 of the studies in Borderline Personality Disorder with a site in United States that are under way reach primary completion within a year, 0 of them phase 3. Phase 3 first, then by date:
| Study | Primary completion |
|---|---|
| NCT04870255Stanford UniversityTreatment of Acute Mood Depressive Episode in Borderline Personality Disorder With rTMS | 2026-12 |
| NCT05651295Matthew Southward, PhDA Precision Medicine Approach to Target Engagement for Emotion Regulation | 2026-12-31 |
| NCT06683014Yale UniversityMDMA in Borderline Personality Disorder | 2027-06 |
| NCT07460947Mclean HospitalA Pilot Trial of One-Day Accelerated TMS and D-cycloserine in Suicidal Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder | 2027-06 |
| NCT06772831Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiCognitive Reappraisal Training for Borderline Personality (BPD) | 2027-07-31 |
Add all 7 to your calendar (.ics) → With an account.
Among the 81 studies in Borderline Personality Disorder with a site in United States, from their registry updates:
This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.
The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of an 18-month psychotherapy treatment for borderline personality disorder. The investigators will examine changes in psychosocial and work functioning in patients with borderline personality disorder using an 18-month psychotherapeutic treatment.
The investigators are recruiting female patients between the ages of 18-35 who meet DSM criteria for BPD.
The investigators are excluding patients who meet the following criteria:
Participants in the study will receive 18-months of twice weekly psychotherapy, free of charge, as well as compensation for follow-up assessments. They may be currently taking psychiatric medication.
Participants will be assessed using semi-structured diagnostic interviews, self-report instruments, and computerized tasks in an initial assessment session lasting about 6-8 hours. They will also be assessed using computerized tasks. Follow-up assessments will occur throughout the treatment as well as after the treatment, lasting about 1-4 hours. The investigators will also be collecting information on their treatment history and psychiatric medication as part of the study.
Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) will be provided with an empirically supported form of psychotherapy for BPD patients called transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) and medication treatment, if indicated. The primary goal of the current study is to detect changes in psychological, psychosocial and work functioning over the course of 18-months of TFP. Previous research has shown that TFP is an effective treatment for BPD over the course of one year, significantly reducing symptoms. An 18-month treatment period will most likely allow patients to achieve significant and lasting gains in work and psychosocial functioning. Each patient will be assessed prior to (baseline), at 3-month intervals throughout, and at the termination of the 18-month treatment period for symptoms, vocational status, and psychosocial functioning. In addition, patients and therapists will complete self-report measures every three months about the therapeutic relationship. After the 18-month treatment period, a final, brief assessment of vocational status, symptoms, and psychosocial functioning will occur.
The therapists doing TFP are professional psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers who have been trained by Dr. Otto Kernberg in this special form of psychotherapy. In this therapy, the patient and therapist meet for 45-minute sessions two times a week on a weekly basis (except for vacations) for 18 months. Due to the ongoing worldwide pandemic meetings of the therapist and the patient will take place over a secured internet connection for the time being. Once it is considered safe again, the therapy sessions will take place in the therapists' private office
Hypothesis: It is hypothesized that patients in Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) will manifest differential responses to the treatment, depending upon pre-treatment patient psychological and psychiatric characteristics. The investigators expect that some patients will show significant positive changes in symptoms, work, and social functioning at the end of 18 months, and that these positive changes will manifest in psychological and neuropsychological measures. The investigators will investigate the pre-treatment psychological variables (e.g. trait sociability, constraint, and negative affect) and neuropsychological functioning that will be predictive of patient improvement with treatment at the end of 18 months. By the end of the treatment, the investigators expect some patients to approach normal levels of enjoyment and enrichment of their experiences in work and social functioning. As all analyses will occur at the end of the study, response to TFP will not be assessed during the course of treatment. Therefore, patients will not be moved to a different intervention during the course of the study.
Research Question: The investigators have found in our pilot work that symptom change occurs in the first 12 months of TFP followed by substantial work and psychosocial changes in subsequent months. The primary goal of the current pilot project is to demonstrate that TFP over an 18-month treatment period is associated with significant improvement in work and intimate relations, reflecting significant personality changes that should enhance patients' overall effectiveness and gratification in their lives.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
We are excluding patients who meet the following criteria:
Transference-focused psychotherapy is a psychodynamic talk therapy utilized in treating borderline personality disorder in men and women.
Other: Transference-focused Psychotherapy (TFP)
Participants receive 18 months of bi-weekly TFP. Each sessions lasts 45 minutes. During sessions, a therapist employs assorted psychodynamic techniques tailored specially for symptoms and relational difficulties associated with BPD. A participant processes interpersonal experiences with her therapist in sessions alongside her therapist and gains therapeutic insight into her problematic ways of relating to her self and others.
Social Adjustment Scale (SAS; Weissman, 1971)
The SAS is a semi-structured interview continuing 42 questions covering an individual's social adjustment and social role within society. This interview has demonstrated good reliability and validity as shown by previous research.
Time frame: Every 3 months for 18-month duration of treatment
Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis, 1993)
The BSI is a 53-item self-report scale designed to assess psychological symptoms in clinical and non-clinical individuals. The items are rated on a 5-point scale of distress (0-4, ranging from 'not at all' to 'extremely') and reflect 9 symptom dimensions (somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism). The BSI also includes a global index of distress (the General Severity Index, GSI) that reflects the mean of all items. The BSI exhibits excellent reliability and validity.
Time frame: Every 3 months for 18-month duration of treatment
Overt Aggression Scale (OAS-M; Coccaro et al., 1991)
The OAS-M is a clinician-rated scale that characterizes aggressive behavior within the past week based on observation and self-report.
Time frame: Every 3 months for 18-month duration of treatment
Affective Lability Scale (ALS; Harvey et al., 1989)
The ALS is a 54-item self-report instrument where subjects rate the tendency of their mood to shift between normal to affectively charged domains of anger, depression, elation and anxiety, as well as their tendency to shift between depression and elation and between depression and anxiety. This measure has good reliability and validity.
Time frame: Every 3 months for 18-month duration of treatment
State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2; Spielberger, 1999)
The STAXI-2 is a 57-item self-report inventory, which measures the intensity of anger as an emotional state (state anger) and the disposition to experience angry feelings as a personality trait (trait anger). The STAXI-2 has good reliability and validity.
Time frame: Every 3 months for 18-month duration of treatment
Reflective Function Questionnaire (RFQ; Fonagy & Luyten, 2009)
The RFQ is a 54-item measure designed to assess the patient's reflective functioning. It is filled out by the client and assesses the client's ability to mentalize and take the perspective of another person. It has good reliability and validity and has been used to assess the reflective function abilities of patients with BPD in previous studies.
Time frame: Every 3 months for 18-month duration of treatment
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Ran from Jan 2016 to primary completion in Jan 2024, 96 months.
Of 105 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Borderline Personality Disorder, half reached primary completion within 35 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 24 and three quarters within 54. This study's 96 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 107 studies reached it within 35 months; a quarter within 24 and three quarters within 54.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Borderline Personality Disorder →
Weill Medical College of Cornell University →