Background The guideline-informed treatment for personality disorders (GIT-PD) was developed as an alternative to the specific treatments for personality disorders. Even though this form of treatment is widely used in health care and has been included in the Health Care Standard for Personality Disorders, its scientific evidence remains unclear.
Aim To review the indirect evidence for GIT-PD and compare it with the evidence for specific treatments.
Method Literature review including reviews and meta-analyses in the field of personality disorders.
Results Although there is increasing evidence for specific treatments, the amount of studies remains limited and the quality of the evidence is rather low. There are indications that specific treatments are poorly implemented in clinical practice, which may detract from their efficacy. There is no clear evidence that specific treatments are on average no more effective than well-designed generic treatments that are similar to GIT-PD. There is considerable evidence for the role of the common factors on which GIT-PD is based.
Conclusion There is indirect evidence for the efficacy of GIT-PD. Good care on a broad scale needs both specific and generic forms of treatment, whereby the most relevant question becomes how clients can be optimally allocated to both forms of treatment.