An investigation of the experience of change in Personality Disorder
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Grounded Theory investigation of the experiences of change for individuals who have received a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD).
IRAS ID
191193
Contact name
Sarah Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christ Church University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 29 days
Research summary
Although understanding of individuals experiences of an Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) diagnosis has increased over recent years, there is still a limited amount of research in this area. One such area is how individuals experience their diagnosis and whether this changes over time. Research into the process of change within personality disorder has been restricted to change within the context of psychological therapy. It is known that many individuals who receive this diagnosis do not access psychological therapy therefore existing theories encapsulate a select and arguably unrepresentative sample of service users.
Subsequently, this study aims to identify whether there are any common themes within individuals experiences over time, including but extending beyond any experiences they may have had of psychological therapy. The study will also interview staff members in order to increase the depth of experiences that can be included and to enrich theory development.
Service users (subsequently referred to as ex-service users) will include individuals with a EUPD diagnosis who are not currently receiving treatment from mental health services but are either volunteering or receiving paid employment in local community organisations. Ex-service users will be recruited by word of mouth and through ‘snowball’ sampling.
Participants will complete an interview about their experiences of receiving and living with a diagnosis of personality disorder or about their experience of working with individuals with this diagnosis. Interviews will occur on NHS sites or in the local community and will last up to one hour.
The study will use a qualitative methodology (Grounded Theory) to develop a theory of how change may be understood for individuals with this diagnosis. The study will be completed by May 2017 and participants will be involved in the research for a maximum of 12 months.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0097
Date of REC Opinion
16 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion