Developed at the University of Washington by Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., DBT was originally developed to treat interpersonal chaos, intense emotional swings, impulsiveness, confusion about identity, and suicidal behavior. It is based on a biosocial theory that states that problems develop from the interaction of biological factors and environmental factors which together create difficulty managing emotions. DBT is therefore appropriate for a range of additional problems that relate to emotion dysregulation, including substance use problems, eating disordered behavior, and anger-related problems. A great deal of research has been conducted on the effectiveness of DBT and, in general, DBT appears as effective or more effective than other psychotherapies for the problems mentioned above.