ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1669524
DIALECTICAL BEHAVIORAL THERAPY SKILLS TRAINING IN ASSISTED LIVING : TRANSDIAGNOSTIC EFFECTS ON GOAL ATTAINMENT, SELF-EFFICACY, AND SYMPTOM SEVERITY
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
- 2Pro Mente Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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Background. Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training (DBT-ST) is an evidence-based intervention targeting emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being. While widely applied in clinical settings, its effectiveness and feasibility in long-term residential care remain underexplored. This study hypothesized that an 8-week DBT-ST program would increase goal attainment and self-efficacy, and decrease psychological distress among assisted living residents, with further improvements expected at a two-week follow-up. Method. A total of 52 residents from four assisted living facilities operated by Pro Mente Salzburg, Austria, participated in an 8-week DBT-ST program. The intervention was delivered by the facilities’ psychologists and by staff supervised by psychologists in weekly group sessions. Self-reports were used to assess goal attainment (ranging from 0% to 100% in 10% intervals), self-efficacy (Self-Efficacy Scale – Short Form; ASKU), and psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; K10). Results. Goal attainment (p = .040, d = 0.28) and psychological distress (p = .034, d = 0.26) showed initial improvements from baseline to post-intervention, but these effects did not withstand Bonferroni correction. No significant changes were observed between post-intervention and follow-up. Conclusions. While nominal improvements were observed, these did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing. The study nonetheless offers preliminary evidence on the feasibility and the challenges of DBT-based interventions in assisted living settings and highlights the need for future research on their context-sensitive adaptations. Keywords: dialectical behavior therapy, skills training, assisted living, psychological distress, self-efficacy, goal attainment, transdiagnostic intervention
Keywords: dialectical behavior therapy, skills training, Assisted living, psychological distress, self-efficacy, goal attainment, Transdiagnostic intervention
Received: 19 Jul 2025; Accepted: 17 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Koziol, Florin, Heft, Fellinger and Probst. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Thomas Probst, thomas.probst@plus.ac.at
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