a Department of Geriatric Psychiatry , GGz Breburg , Tilburg , The Netherlands.
b Department of Clinical and Life Span Psychology , Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) , Brussels , Belgium.
Aging Ment Health. 2018 Jun;22(6):738-747. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1318260. Epub 2017 Apr 21.
No studies have been conducted yet into the effectiveness of treatment of personality disorders in later life. This study is a first test of the effectiveness of schema therapy for personality disorders in older adults.
Multiple-baseline design with eight cluster C personality disorder patients, with a mean age of 69. After a baseline phase with random length, schema therapy was given during the first year, followed by follow-up sessions during six months. Participants weekly rated the credibility of dysfunctional core beliefs. Symptomatic distress, early maladaptive schemas, quality of life and target complaints were assessed every six months and personality disorder diagnosis was assessed before baseline and after follow-up. Data were analyzed with mixed regression analyses.
Results revealed significant linear trends during treatment phases, but not during baseline and follow-up. The scores during follow-up remained stable and were significantly lower compared to baseline, with high effect sizes. Seven participants remitted from their personality disorder diagnosis.
Schema therapy appears an effective treatment for cluster C personality disorders in older adults. This finding is highly innovative as this is the first study exploring the effectiveness of psychotherapy, in this case schema therapy, for personality disorders in older adults.
目前尚未有研究针对老年人群中人格障碍的治疗效果进行研究。本研究首次测试了图式疗法在老年人群中治疗人格障碍的效果。
对 8 名群 C 型人格障碍患者进行多基线设计，平均年龄为 69 岁。在随机长度的基线阶段之后，在第一年进行图式治疗，随后在六个月内进行随访。参与者每周评估功能失调核心信念的可信度。每六个月评估症状困扰、早期适应不良图式、生活质量和目标投诉，并在基线前和随访后评估人格障碍诊断。使用混合回归分析对数据进行分析。
结果显示治疗阶段呈现出显著的线性趋势，但基线和随访阶段没有。随访期间的分数保持稳定，与基线相比显著降低，具有较高的效应量。7 名参与者从人格障碍诊断中缓解。
图式疗法似乎是一种治疗老年人群中群 C 型人格障碍的有效方法。这一发现极具创新性，因为这是首次探索心理治疗（在此情况下为图式疗法）对老年人群中人格障碍的效果。
