Family Intervention Research Study (FIRST) V2.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Family Intervention Research Study (FIRST): Supporting people who support individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder
IRAS ID
265596
Contact name
Emma Lamont
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Stirling
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Borderline Personality Disorder (PD) is associated with significant distress and impairments in personal, family, social, educational, occupational and other areas of functioning (International Classification of Disease [ICD-11]: World Health Organisation [WHO] 2018). Prevalence is 5-10% of the adult population (Samuels 2011), 25% of primary care patients (Moran et al., 2000), and at least 50% of psychiatric outpatients (Beckwith et al., 2014). PD is considered to be a result of interactions between biological and psycho-social factors, together with adverse and traumatic experiences during childhood (Linehan 1993). Suicide and self-harm are a major concern with approximately 69%-80% of individuals self-harming or attempting suicide, and 10% dying by suicide (Fertuck et al., 2007).
Families and carers play a vital role in supporting individuals, providing practical help, personal care, and emotional support (Shah et al., 2010). The health of carers is often neglected in favour of their role; research suggests 71% have poor physical and mental health (UK Carers 2015). Difficulties they experience include: emotional / psychological distress, burden, stigma, financial, information, education and receiving support (Oyebode 2005).
This is a qualitative study using a grounded theory approach to examine the needs and experiences of family or carers who provide support for individuals living with borderline PD. This will inform the development of a supportive intervention specifically for carers. The intervention itself will be created through a series of stakeholder focus groups consisting of carers and representatives of mental health services known for their expertise in borderline PD.Data will be collected over the course of a year through semi structured interviews with 20 carers, and focus groups with 10-12 carers and professional stakeholders. This will be analysed following grounded theory principles and the findings will be used to co-produce the intervention using an Intervention Mapping framework (IM) (Bartholomew et al.,2016).
REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1452
Date of REC Opinion
5 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion