The surviving emotional storms programme : a service user informed programme developed from an exploratory study of help-seeking experiences of NZ tertiary students with Borderline Personality Disorder : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

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dc.confidentialEmbargo : No
dc.contributor.advisorRoss, Kirsty
dc.contributor.authorBeckett, Jennifer Jeanen
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-11T04:48:43Z
dc.date.available2024-04-11T04:48:43Z
dc.date.issued2023-04-11
dc.description.abstractIn this qualitative thesis, 14 university students were interviewed about their lived experience of having Borderline Personality Disorder. Participants discussed arduous journeys in search of effective treatment and described their increasing risk while trying to access help, alongside their experiences when able to access publicly funded treatment. Results from thematic analysis highlighted a super-theme of a continuous invalidation loop, discussed from an ecological and attachment perspective. This started with early help-seeking invalidation in participants’ microsystems, with the loop then broadening across systems over time, and help seeking attempts. This included contact with the mental health system, which was suggested to be a perpetuating factor in the development and maintenance of Borderline Personality Disorder. The help-seeking invalidation loop was briefly interrupted when participants were diagnosed, which occurred for most, directly after a suicide attempt. Diagnosis brought temporary relief, when participants armed themselves with knowledge about the condition including prognosis and treatment. The validation from informed diagnosis aided an externalisation process to occur, enhancing connections with self and others. However, accessing treatment proved difficult, crisis and respite was perceived as invalidating and when in treatment participants’ attempts at connection were often thwarted. Results from the thematic analysis guided the design and delivery of a group intervention. The intervention was administered using an action research methodology to university students either diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder or with borderline traits. The intervention, an adaptation from traditional dialectic behavioural therapy, integrated the results from the thematic analysis. To address the super-theme findings, attachment theory was interspersed throughout the intervention, utilizing aspects of narrative and acceptance and commitment therapies. The intervention was adapted and evolved from participant feedback over six cycles of 12-session intervention groups. In each group participants reported reduced severity of borderline symptoms and increased mindfulness ability. The research took place prior to and during the global pandemic and Covid-19 mandatory lockdowns in NZ, during which the research was expanded to finish with an online intervention accessed by students across NZ.en
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/69449
dc.publisherMassey Universityen
dc.rightsThe Authoren
dc.subjectBorderline personality disorderen
dc.subjectTreatmenten
dc.subjectCollege studentsen
dc.subjectMental healthen
dc.subjectHelp-seeking behavioren
dc.subjectGroup psychotherapyen
dc.subjectNew Zealanden
dc.subjectOperant behavioren
dc.subject.anzsrc520304 Health psychologyen
dc.titleThe surviving emotional storms programme : a service user informed programme developed from an exploratory study of help-seeking experiences of NZ tertiary students with Borderline Personality Disorder : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealanden
thesis.degree.disciplinePsychology
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD).en
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-abridgedNew Zealand has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the developed world. While working in a university health care setting, Jenni became acutely aware of a gap in access to care, for students with borderline personality disorder, a life-threatening condition in which approximately 75% attempt suicide. The research interviewed students with borderline personality disorder to explore their lived experiences. Thematic analysis results were then used to inform the design and implementation of a consumer-informed intervention. The intervention interspersed attachment theory into an adapted dialectic behavioural therapy program, run online during Covid-19 lockdowns.
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-longNew Zealand has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the developed world. While working in a university health care setting, Jenni became acutely aware of a gap in access to care, especially for students with borderline personality disorder, a life-threatening mental health condition in which approximately 75% attempt suicide. The research interviewed students with borderline personality disorder to explore their lived experiences. Thematic analysis results were then used to inform the design and implementation of a consumer-informed intervention. The intervention interspersed attachment theory into an adapted dialectic behavioural therapy program, run online during Covid-19 lockdowns.
thesis.description.name-pronounciationJennifer Beckett
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