Abstract
Quality of life (QoL) is impaired in clients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The recovery literature considers QoL an important outcome and in particular this diagnostic group value it. Yet few studies measure QoL following treatment. As a result, it is unclear how treatments work. Treatments often target symptom improvement with the assumption that QoL will also improve. Whilst this may be partially correct, the literature implicates other factors as potential mechanisms of change. This thesis aimed to explore the impact of treatment on QoL outcomes and investigate predictors of QoL. Part one presents a literature review examining QoL outcomes following BPD treatment. The findings extended a previous literature review and confirmed that QoL does improve following treatment. Different domains of QoL may improve at different rates which may be as a function of treatment targets. Part two is an empirical paper investigating symptomatic, service usage and QoL outcomes following Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem-Solving (STEPPS) and also investigated the following predictors of QoL: symptom change, change in cognitive schema (filters) and group cohesion. The findings suggested that QoL and symptomatic outcomes improved following STEPPS; yet service usage did not and remained consistently low. Symptom change and change in cognitive filters predicted QoL outcomes but group cohesion did not.