Abstract
Background:Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with symptoms including self-harm, suicidality, impulsivity, anger, and mood disturbance. Although psychotherapeutic approaches are commonly used in treatment, there remains interest in alternative and complementary approaches for managing BPD-related symptoms. Canine-assisted interventions (CAI) have been investigated across a range of mental health settings, though their relevance to BPD-related symptoms has not previously been described.Aims:This scoping review aimed to map the available research on CAI addressing symptoms associated with BPD, describing study populations, intervention characteristics, outcome measures, and gaps in the evidence.Methods:A systematic search was conducted across 5 databases. Studies were considered eligible if they examined the effects of CAI on predefined BPD-related symptoms, involved CAI interventions, and reported primary empirical data. Study populations, intervention characteristics, outcome measures, and reported findings were tabulated and summarised descriptively.Results:Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies varied in their populations, intervention formats and outcome measures, and coverage of the selected symptoms was uneven. Most studies reported reductions in at least some BPD-related symptoms following CAI. However, several studies demonstrated important methodological limitations, including small sample sizes, non-randomised designs, and limited control for confounding. Most included studies did not recruit participants with a formal diagnosis of BPD specifically.Conclusion:Existing research on CAI does address several symptoms associated with BPD, but spans diverse populations, interventions and outcome measures. There are, however, gaps in symptom coverage and research involving populations specifically diagnosed with BPD, providing priorities for future investigation.