Ellen L Lipman1, Michael H Boyle2, Charles Cunningham2, Meghan Kenny2, Carrie Sniderman2, Eric Duku2, Brenda Mills2, Peter Evans2, Marjorie Waymouth2. 1. Drs. Lipman, Boyle, and Cunningham are with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences McMaster University and The Offord Centre for Child Studies, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Ms. Kenny, Ms. Sniderman, and Mr. Duku are with The Offord Centre for Child Studies; Mrs. Mills was formerly with and Mr. Evans and Ms. Waymouth are with McMaster Children's Hospital, Chedoke Site, Hamilton. Electronic address: lipmane@mcmaster.ca. 2. Drs. Lipman, Boyle, and Cunningham are with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences McMaster University and The Offord Centre for Child Studies, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Ms. Kenny, Ms. Sniderman, and Mr. Duku are with The Offord Centre for Child Studies; Mrs. Mills was formerly with and Mr. Evans and Ms. Waymouth are with McMaster Children's Hospital, Chedoke Site, Hamilton.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: There are few well-evaluated uncomplicated community-based interventions for childhood aggression. The authors assess the impact of a community-based anger management group on child aggressive behaviors, using a randomized, controlled trial (RCT). METHOD:Families with children 7 to 11 years old were recruited through advertisements and randomized (N = 123). Inclusion required parent concern about anger/aggressive behavior, RCT agreement, and a telephone behavior screen. Intervention participants were offered three parent education/skill-building group sessions, 10 weekly child group sessions, and three in-home family practice sessions. Nine groups ran from August 2002 to August 2004. Interviewers naïve to randomization collected data on all participants pre- and postgroup. Outcomes included child-rated anger and parent-rated child aggressive behavior, externalizing behavior and hostility, parent-child relationship, and parenting stress. Intent-to-treat analyses were done. RESULTS: Pre/postoutcome comparisons indicated no significant differences between intervention versus control, with small effect sizes for most outcomes (0.27-0.29). Although not significant, the magnitude of improvement favored intervention families on all parent-rated measures. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there was no differential impact of participating in a community-based anger management group versus control on child aggressive behaviors and other associated measures. The impact of regression to the mean, effect, and sample size estimates; child comorbidity; and programmatic and methodological issues are discussed.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: There are few well-evaluated uncomplicated community-based interventions for childhood aggression. The authors assess the impact of a community-based anger management group on childaggressive behaviors, using a randomized, controlled trial (RCT). METHOD: Families with children 7 to 11 years old were recruited through advertisements and randomized (N = 123). Inclusion required parent concern about anger/aggressive behavior, RCT agreement, and a telephone behavior screen. Intervention participants were offered three parent education/skill-building group sessions, 10 weekly child group sessions, and three in-home family practice sessions. Nine groups ran from August 2002 to August 2004. Interviewers naïve to randomization collected data on all participants pre- and postgroup. Outcomes included child-rated anger and parent-rated child aggressive behavior, externalizing behavior and hostility, parent-child relationship, and parenting stress. Intent-to-treat analyses were done. RESULTS: Pre/postoutcome comparisons indicated no significant differences between intervention versus control, with small effect sizes for most outcomes (0.27-0.29). Although not significant, the magnitude of improvement favored intervention families on all parent-rated measures. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there was no differential impact of participating in a community-based anger management group versus control on childaggressive behaviors and other associated measures. The impact of regression to the mean, effect, and sample size estimates; child comorbidity; and programmatic and methodological issues are discussed.
Authors: Patricia J Kelly; Janna Lesser; An-Lin Cheng; Manuel Oscós-Sánchez; Elisabeth Martinez; Daniel Pineda; Juan Mancha Journal: Fam Community Health Date: 2010 Jul-Sep
Authors: Kirsten C Smeets; Anouk A M Leeijen; Mariët J van der Molen; Floor E Scheepers; Jan K Buitelaar; Nanda N J Rommelse Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2014-08-20 Impact factor: 4.785