A pilot before-and-after study of a brief teaching programme for psychiatry trainees in mentalizing skills. Issue 4 (November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Polnay, Adam; MacLean, Claire; Lewington, Emma; Patrick, Jon
• Is Part Of: Scottish medical journal. Volume 60:Issue 4(2015)
• Page Start: 185
• Page End: 191
• Publication Date: 2015-11
• Subjects: Attitudes -- personality disorder -- mentalization-based treatment -- mentalizing skills; Medicine -- Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.1177/0036933015608125
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0036-9330

Abstract

Background and aims: Negative attitudes in clinicians towards people with personality disorder are common and associated with poor care. National guidelines recommend developing interventions to improve attitudes. Mentalization-based treatment theory and techniques provide a plausible intervention. We therefore evaluated the effect of teaching mentalizing skills on clinicians' attitudes towards personality disorder. Methods: Pilot before-and-after study of trainee psychiatrists receiving four teaching sessions in mentalizing skills. Self-report questionnaires were completed at baseline and post teaching programme. Main outcome measure: Attitudes to Personality Disorder Questionnaire. Secondary measure: Knowledge and Application of Mentalization-based treatment Questionnaire. Results: Sixteen doctors were recruited with no study drop-out. Mean Attitudes to Personality Disorder Questionnaire score was superior post teaching programme versus baseline (135.3 vs. 124.5, standardised mean difference = 0.72, 95% confidence interval = 0.01 to 1.44). Mean Knowledge and Application of Mentalization-based treatment Questionnaire score was superior post teaching programme versus baseline (112.5 vs. 97.1, standardised mean difference = 1.83, 95% confidence interval 0.98 to 2.67). Conclusions: As expected from a pilot study, the estimate of effect is imprecise. Within this limitation, our findings suggest that teaching in mentalizing skills improved attitudes and mentalization-based treatment knowledge to a clinically relevant degree. This has important implications for patient outcomes and staff development. Our study paves the way for a full-scale study to provide more precise and robust evidence.