To Adopt or Adapt: A Scoping Review of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy With Patients With Minoritised Identity Constructs.

Objective: Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is an evidence‐based psychological intervention (EBP) for reducing suicide behaviour. While DBT, like many EBPs, was developed and first evaluated in largely white samples in Western contexts, it is now broadly applied. This review assessed how DBT has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 1 - 14
Main Authors: Aunon, Frances M., Ingram, Polly, Wolkowicz, Noah, Martino, Steve, Kacos, Heather, Spana, Ethan, Honsberger, Mark, Rielage, Jennifer Klosterman, Doran, Neal, Carretta, Rachel, Ridley, Josephine, Giovannelli, Thorayya Said, Bannister, Jenny, Merians, Addie, Howell, Brittany, Demirelli, Stacey, Smith, Jason G., Decker, Suzanne E.
Format: research systematic review tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Mar2025
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Objective: Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is an evidence‐based psychological intervention (EBP) for reducing suicide behaviour. While DBT, like many EBPs, was developed and first evaluated in largely white samples in Western contexts, it is now broadly applied. This review assessed how DBT has been adopted or adapted when used with patient populations with minoritised identity constructs. Methods: We conducted a PRISMA‐guided scoping review of articles using DBT with a minoritised patient population. We used an implementation science framework, Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications‐Enhanced, to characterise adaptations to the content and context of DBT application. Through PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO, we identified 273 articles where the title or abstract mentioned DBT and described a minoritised adult patient population. Principle Findings: We found 83.5% (228/273) articles reviewed reported adaptations to DBT content. Specifically, 66.3% (181/273), 44.6% (122/273) and 39.6% (108/273) of articles described reducing, expanding or changing DBT content, respectively. We found that 42.1% of articles (115/273) reported adaptations to the DBT context. Moreover, 57.5% of content adaptations and 65.3% of context adaptations did not specify a reason for adaptation. Conclusions: This scoping review indicates that the majority of articles of studies using DBT with patients with minoritised identity constructs made adaptations to DBT, but few provided justification for these adaptations. We encourage clinicians and clinical administrators, researchers and policymakers to document adaptations and justifications thereof, and evaluate clinical and implementation outcomes.