Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in patients with a personality disorder

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics divided by allocated group (n = 97) and comparisons between groups

Variable	Control group	EMDR group*	Statistic
Mean age (years)	32.85 (range 18–63)	33.67 (range 18–64)	F (1) = 0.11, p = .75
Gender			X^2 (1) = 0.14, p = .71
Male Female	17 (37%) 29 (63%)	17 (33.3%) 34 (66.7%)
Personality Cluster* B C OS	14 (30.4%) 18 (39.1%) 14 (30.4%)	15 (29.4%) 20 (32.2%) 16 (31.4%)	X^2 (2) = 0.02, p = .99
DSM-5 personality classification Borderline PD* Avoidant PD Histrionic PD Narcistic PD PD OS Obsessive compulsive PD Dependent PD	10 (21.7%) 8 (17.4%) 1 (2.2%) 3 (6.5%) 14 (30.4%) 9 (19.6%) 1 (2.2%)	13 (25.5%) 12 (23.5%) 1 (2%) 0 19 (37.3%) 6 (11.8%) 0	X^2 (6) = 6.30, p = .39

Figure 1. Participant flow

EMDR, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy; SUD, subjective unit of disturbance

Table 2. Scores (mean (SD)) at baseline, post-treatment and 3 months follow, group by time interaction and between-group effect sizes

														Effect sizes of EMDR vs Control group
		EMDR group				Control group					Group by time interaction			At post-treatment (M2)			At 3 months of FU (M3)
Measures*		Baseline (M1) mean (Sd)	Post-treatment (M2) mean (Sd)	3 Months FU (M3) mean (Sd)		Baseline (M1) mean (Sd)	Post-treatment (M2) mean (Sd)	3 Months FU (M3) mean (Sd)				p		d	CI Interval		d	CI Interval
BSI	N	50	46	38		45	43	37
	Psychological symptoms	1.50 (0.66)	1.22 (0.64)	1.08 (0.62)		1.68 (0.66)	1.64 (0.66)	1.41 (0.63)				.035		−0.65	−1.07	−0.22	−0.53	−0.98	−0.06
OQ-45	N	50	46	40		45	43	38
	Psychological distress	88.4 (18.73)	74.57 (21.28)	70.5 (23.18)		93.76 (18.83)	87.89 (21.62)	81.04 (23.46)				.044		−0.62	−1.04	−0.19	−0.45	−0.90	−0.45

*BSI: brief symptom inventory; OQ-45: outcome questionnaire 45. Effect sizes concern the differences between the EMDR and wait-list at post-treatment and follow-up.

Table 3. Parameter estimates of the fixed effects of the LMM analysis

	Fixed Effects BSI					Fixed Effects OQ-45
	Est/Beta	SE	95% CI	t	p	Est/Beta	SE	95% CI	t	p
Intercept	1.50	0.09	1.32 – 1.68	16.73	<.001	88.37	2.65	83.11 – 93.63	33.36	<.001
Group	0.18	0.13	−0.08 – 0.44	1.37	.174	5.39	3.86	−2.27 – 13.05	1.40	.166
Post-treatment	−0.28	0.06	−0.41 – -0.16	−4.45	<.001	−13.80	2.22	−18.20 – 9.41	−6.21	<.001
Follow up	−0.42	0.09	−0.60 – -0.24	2.32	.053	17.87	3.26	11.42 – 24.32	5.48	<.001
Group * Post-treatment	0.24	0.09	0.06 – 0.42	2.60	.010	2.49	3.19	1.64 – 14.24	2.49	.014
Group * Follow up	0.15	0.13	−0.11 – 0.41	1.16	.248	5.15	4.67	−4.10 – 14.40	1.10	.272
	Model Fit					Model Fit
AIC	389.63					2197.77

*BSI: brief symptom inventory; OQ-45: outcome questionnaire 45.

Figure 2. Differences between the groups on psychological symptoms and psychological distress over time measured with the BSI and OQ-45

*M1 = baseline measurement; M2 = post-treatment measurement; M3 = 3-month follow-up measurement; BSI = Brief Symptom Inventory; OQ-45 = Outcome Questionnaire-45

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data are not available.