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Background: Families and significant others of people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) show increased levels of psychological distress. Family Connections®, a 12-week group intervention based on the principles of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, was designed to provide families with both information about the disorder and emotion regulation skills. It has been progressively implemented in French-speaking European countries., Methods: We conducted an observational, multicenter study in France and Switzerland. In total, 149 participants of the Family Connections program were included among five centers. Burden, depression, coping, and emotion regulation were assessed before and after the intervention., Results: One-way repeated measures MANOVA showed that the burden, depressive symptoms, emotion regulation and coping all changed significantly after the intervention (p < 0.001, partial η 2  = 0.297). T-tests showed that the burden significantly decreased after the intervention (p < 0.0001, d = -0.48), as did depressive symptoms (p < 0.0001, d = -0.36) and difficulties in emotion regulation (p < 0.0001, d =-0.32) whereas coping improved (p < 0.0001, d = 0.53). Two-way mixed ANOVA showed that burden reduction was stronger among female than male participants (p = 0.048, η 2  = 0.027). Before the intervention, the burden was higher for female than male participants (p < 0.001). An initial linear regression showed the burden reduction to be associated with a decrease in the resignation of the participants (β = 0.19, p = 0.047). A second linear regression showed the burden reduction to be associated with the intensity of the relatives' symptoms at baseline (β = 0.22, p = 0.008) and improvement of emotional clarity of the participants (β = 0.25, p = 0.006)., Conclusion: This Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Based psychoeducational intervention is an appropriate way to support French-speaking European families of people with BPD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The short form of the Borderline Symptom List (BSL-23) is a self-rating instrument used to assess specific symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD). The original German version has shown good psychometric proprieties. The BSL-23 can also be used to measure the effects of therapy on patients with BPD. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the French version of the BSL-23., Methods: The French version of the BSL-23 was given to 265 subjects with BPD. Factor structure, reliability, test-retest stability, convergent validity, divergent validity, and sensitivity to change were analysed. Forty-five subjects suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were used as controls to evaluate the specificity of BSL-23., Results: A one-factor structure was obtained in the French version of the BSL-23, showing high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .94) and test-retest reliability (r = .841). The French version of the BSL-23 was highly correlated with depression severity, hopelessness, anger, motor impulsiveness, and BPD diagnosis. It was an efficient tool to discriminate between BPD patients and ADHD patients, and showed good sensitivity to change in a group of BPD patients who took part in a one-month DBT intervention., Conclusions: The French version of the BSL-23 shows similar psychometric properties as the original German version. This study therefore provides clinicians and researchers with a French instrument to measure BPD symptomatology.

Objective: "Michael's game" (MG) is a card game targeting the ability to generate alternative hypotheses to explain a given experience. The main objective was to evaluate the effect of MG on delusional conviction as measured by the primary study outcome: the change in scores on the conviction subscale of the Peters delusions inventory (PDI-21). Other variables of interest were the change in scores on the distress and preoccupation subscales of the PDI-21, the brief psychiatric rating scale, the Beck cognitive insight scale, and belief flexibility assessed with the Maudsley assessment of delusions schedule (MADS)., Methods: We performed a parallel, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled superiority trial comparing treatment as usual plus participation in MG with treatment as usual plus being on a waiting list (TAU) in a sample of adult outpatients with psychotic disorders and persistent positive psychotic symptoms at inclusion., Results: The 172 participants were randomized, with 86 included in each study arm. Assessments were performed at inclusion (T1: baseline), at 3 months (T2: post-treatment), and at 6 months after the second assessment (T3: follow-up). At T2, a positive treatment effect was observed on the primary outcome, the PDI-21 conviction subscale (p = 0.005). At T3, a sustained effect was observed for the conviction subscale (p = 0.002). Further effects were also observed at T3 on the PDI-21 distress (p = 0.002) and preoccupation subscales (p = 0.001), as well as on one of the MADS measures of belief flexibility ("anything against the belief") (p = 0.001)., Conclusion: The study demonstrated some significant beneficial effect of MG.