The effect of dialectical behavior therapy oriented psychoeducation program on borderline personality traits in adolescents

In this study, it is aimed to experimentally test the effect of Dialectical Behavior Therapy-oriented psychoeducation program on borderline personality traits in adolescents. The study group of the study consisted of 13-14 years-old students who continued their education in a secondary school in Bolu province in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and who did not have any clinical diagnosis. In the study, a pilot study was conducted in the 2021-2022 academic year in order to see how the implementation process of the psychoeducation programme progressed and to notice and regulate the deficiencies. The pilot study of the research was carried out with a pretest-control group design. In line with the observations and awareness gained during the pilot study, some details of the psychoeducation programme were adjusted and the experimental study was conducted in the second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. The experimental study of the research was conducted using a mixed method research model. The research was carried out with 20 students, 10 in the experimental group and 10 in the control group, who did not have any clinical diagnosis but had high borderline personality trait scores. Individuals were randomly assigned to the groups and it was randomly determined which of the groups would be the experimental group and which would be the control group. Borderline Personality Traits Scale Child and Adolescent Form were used as data collection tools in the study. Within the scope of the research, a 12-week Dialectical Behavior Therapy-oriented psychoeducation programme was applied to the experimental group. No treatment was applied to the control group. The effectiveness of the process was tested by applying the same measurement tool to the members of the experimental and control groups in the pretest, posttest and follow-up processes. The quantitative data obtained were analysed with the help of SPSS 25.0 package programme. In order to qualitatively observe the effect of the psychoeducation group experience on the students, after the psychoeducation programme, students' opinions, parents' opinions and teachers' opinions were obtained through semi-structured forms. The qualitative data obtained were analysed by descriptive analysis. According to the findings obtained as a result of the research, it was found that the Dialectical Behavior Therapy-oriented psychoeducation programme was effective in reducing the scores of borderline personality traits in adolescents. The positive qualitative findings obtained from the students in the experimental group, their parents and teachers also support the quantitative results of the study. The findings obtained were discussed within the scope of the relevant literature and recommendations were made.