Personality Change Study for Borderline Personality Disorder

January 12, 2026 updated by: Shannon E. Sauer-Zavala

Engaging Higher-Order Mechanisms of Psychopathology: A Parsimonious Approach to Precision Medicine

Participants with borderline personality disorder will undergo an a 2 - 4 week baseline assessment to determine level of outcomes of interest in the absence of treatment. After the baseline period, participants will receive six weekly 50-60-minute treatment sessions. After the 6 treatment sessions, participants will complete a 4-week follow-up period to determine the sustainability of the treatment module.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Kentucky
      • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40508-2307
        • Clinic for Emotional Health at the University of Kentucky

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Speak English fluently
  • Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosed psychological conditions that would be better addressed by alternative treatments
  • concurrent psychotherapy
  • medication instability
  • substance use disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Personality-based treatment 2 week baseline
Participants will receive treatment tailored to 1 of 3 personality dimensions after a 2 week baseline assessment
Behavioral: Personality-Based Therapy
Participants will be randomized to a 2- or 4-week assessment-only baseline period. After the baseline period, participants will receive the personality-based treatment module corresponding to their highest clinical elevation (i.e., neuroticism, [low] conscientiousness, [low] agreeableness). Treatment will consist of six weekly 50-60-minute sessions. After the 6-week intervention period, participants will complete a 4-week follow-up period to determine the sustainability of effects observed
Experimental: Personality-based treatment 4 week baseline
Participants will receive treatment tailored to 1 of 3 personality dimensions after a 4 week baseline assessment
Behavioral: Personality-Based Therapy
Participants will be randomized to a 2- or 4-week assessment-only baseline period. After the baseline period, participants will receive the personality-based treatment module corresponding to their highest clinical elevation (i.e., neuroticism, [low] conscientiousness, [low] agreeableness). Treatment will consist of six weekly 50-60-minute sessions. After the 6-week intervention period, participants will complete a 4-week follow-up period to determine the sustainability of effects observed

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in clinician-rated borderline personality disorder symptoms
Time Frame: up to 14 weeks (pre-baseline, pre-intervention, post-intervention, post-follow-up)
Change in borderline personality disorder symptoms will be measured using Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD) - clinician-rated version. Scores range from 0-36; higher scores indicate greater severity of borderline personality disorder symptoms
up to 14 weeks (pre-baseline, pre-intervention, post-intervention, post-follow-up)
Change in patient-reported borderline personality disorder symptoms
Time Frame: weekly up to 14 weeks
Change in borderline personality disorder symptoms will be measured using Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD) - self-report version. Scores range from 0-36; higher scores indicate greater severity of borderline personality disorder symptoms
weekly up to 14 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Shannon E. Sauer-Zavala

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
American Psychological Foundation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD, University of Kentucky

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 15, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 16, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 16, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

August 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 86801
  • R61MH133665 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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