{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T19:25:27Z","timestamp":1783970727066,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,15]],"date-time":"2023-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1694736000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Identity diffusion plays a central role in the onset of borderline personality disorders. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) is a treatment program for adolescents with emotional instability and dysregulation. The interest of this study is to examine the potential effects of a standardized and certified DBT-A therapy program on the identity development of adolescents in an inpatient setting. Methods: A total of 138 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years with symptoms of severe emotional instability were assessed before and after a certified and standardized 12-week in-patient DBT-A program targeting emotional regulation with the following standardized instruments: the Assessment of Identity Development in Adolescence (AIDA), Scale of the Experience of Emotions (SEE), and Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R). Results: The results indicate a significant change in identity development, emotion regulation, and general symptoms of psychopathology after treatment with DBT-A. Conclusions: In this large sample of adolescents, DBT-A significantly improved identity development and reduced identity diffusion, however, without a treatment-as-usual control group as a limitation. Nevertheless, our results may become clinically relevant for the prevention of chronic impairment in emotionally unstable adolescents.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci13091328","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,15]],"date-time":"2023-09-15T03:50:10Z","timestamp":1694749810000},"page":"1328","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Effects of a Standardized DBT\u2014A Program on Identity Development in Adolescents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0812-576X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Dixius","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrucken, Germany"},{"name":"SHG Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 66119 Saarbrucken, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5620-1563","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eva","family":"M\u00f6hler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrucken, Germany"},{"name":"SHG Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 66119 Saarbrucken, Germany"},{"name":"Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Saarland University Hospital, 66421 Homburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2013-3677","article-title":"Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence","volume":"134","author":"Kaess","year":"2014","journal-title":"Pediatrics"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1002\/wps.20429","article-title":"Prevention and Early Intervention for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Novel Public Health Priority","volume":"16","author":"Chanen","year":"2017","journal-title":"World Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1159\/000325104","article-title":"Associations between Identity Diffusion, Axis II Disorder, and Psychopathology in Inpatients with Borderline Personality Disorder","volume":"45","author":"Sollberger","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychopathology"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.24869\/spsih.2017.30","article-title":"Early Detection and Intervention for Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence","volume":"45","author":"Schmeck","year":"2017","journal-title":"Soc. 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