| Thirty-six adult outpatients (27 female and 9 male) receiving therapy at The Center for Intensive Treatment of Personality Disorders were assessed at intake and six months later to examine whether personality pathology and other psychiatric symptoms changed. At intake, 24 patients met borderline clinical criteria. Comparable sub-groups also reached clinical levels for depressive, dependent and masochistic personality, as measured by the MCMI-III. Six months later, patient scores were significantly lower on all four of these personality scales and on 8 of 9 symptom dimensions on the SCL-90-R. Links between patient and therapist attachment styles to outcome were also examined. Additionally, the relationship between patient-therapist attachment dynamics and its effect on outcome was explored. Results showed high patient attachment avoidance, greater difference between patient-therapist attachment avoidance, and less difference between patient-therapist anxiety to be significantly predictive of diminished levels of borderline pathology. Relevance of these findings in context of the current literature is discussed. |
