Effectiveness of EMDR in Borderline Personality Disorder

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Borderline Personality Disorder

In brief

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental disorder characterized by four major symptomatological domains: interpersonal instability, perceptive and identity disorders, emotional and behavioural dysregulation. Considering a multifactorial etiological model, it has been suggested that the interaction between behavioral, environmental and genetic factors may promote the development of BPD. Early life stress events (ELS) in childhood and adolescence are highly prevalent in this population and constitute an environmental risk factor for the development of BPD. This correlates with the fact that Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is frequently comorbid in BPD leading to more severe symptoms and worse psychosocial functioning. At the therapeutic level, the treatment of BPD is an open challenge as psychotherapeutic interventions are of limited effectiveness and characterized by high drop-out rates. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is the gold standard for treating PTSD. However, scientific evidence on the application of EMDR in patients with BPD is limited. This study aims to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of an EMDR protocol on the nuclear symptomatology of BPD (emotional and behavioral dysregulation) in a group of DBP patients with/without PTSD comorbidity, through a systematic assessment of the peculiar dimensions of the disorder. The basic hypothesis is that EMDR, through a short-term intervention, can act both on the traumatic PTSD-like experiences reported by patients and on the clinical manifestations peculiar to DBP, in particular by improving the emotional regulation capacity of patients with BPD.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT06493708

Run by

Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale degli Spedali Civili di Brescia

People needed

56

Starts

2024-10-01

Expected to finish

2026-10-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-02-25

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Patients must be over 18 years old
• A current diagnosis of PBD according to the DSM-5 was confirmed using the SCID-5-CV and SCID-5-PD diagnostic scale

You may not qualify if…

• Suicidal ideation in the last 3 months (suicidal thoughts active intentionally but without specific planning or suicidal thoughts active with planning and intentionality)
• Intellectual disability
• Any active disturbance from use of substances or alcohol
• Any other diagnosis of Axis I, except for Depressive Disorders, Anxious Spectrum Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Where it is running

• ASST Spedali Civili Brescia — Brescia, Brescia, Italy (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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