Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Disruptive Behavior in Children and Adolescents



Status:Active, not recruiting
Conditions:Psychiatric
Therapuetic Areas:Psychiatry / Psychology
Healthy:No
Age Range:8 - 16
Updated:9/22/2018
Start Date:November 14, 2013
End Date:December 1, 2018

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Using CBT to Examine Circuitry of Frustrative Non-reward in Aggressive Children

This is a randomized controlled study of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for disruptive
behavior such as anger and aggression in children and adolescents. CBT will be compared to
Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT) and participants of this study will be randomly assigned (like
the flip of a coin) to receive CBT or SPT. Participants will be also asked to complete
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electrophysiological (EEG) tasks
(recordings/images of brain activity) before and after treatment. CBT is a behavioral
intervention that consists of 12 one-hour long, weekly sessions. During CBT children are
taught various skills for coping with frustration and parents are taught various strategies
for managing situations that can be anger provoking for their child. This study is conducted
to examine whether reduction of behavioral problems including anger outbursts, irritability,
aggression and noncompliance after CBT may be paralleled by changes in areas of the brain
responsible for emotion regulation and social perception.


Inclusion Criteria:

1. Boys and girls, 8 to 16 years of age.

2. T-Score > 65 on the parent-rated Aggressive Behavior Scale of the Child Behavior
Checklist (CBCL).

3. Unmedicated or on stable medication for aggression, ADHD, anxiety, or depression for
at least 6 weeks, with no planned changes for duration of study.

4. Children can speak English sufficiently enough to participate in CBT and study
assessments.

5. Children should have 1) no metal medical implants, 2) a body weight of less than 250
lbs. and 3) no claustrophobia. [These are necessitated by the safety requirements of
the fMRI.]

6. Children should be able to meet fMRI data quality requirements at baseline [to enable
pre- to post-treatment comparison.]

7. Families can commute to the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, CT for weekly
visits.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. IQ below 85.

2. Children across various DSM diagnoses will be eligible for participation. However,
significant levels of psychopathology that require immediate clinical attention such
as severe depression or psychosis will be exclusionary because it will require
alternative treatments.

3. Significant medical condition such as heart disease, hypertension, liver or renal
failure, pulmonary disease, seizure disorder, brain injury based on medical history
which can interfere with participation in the study.

4. Concurrent psychotherapy can continue, but CBT for aggression is exclusionary.
Subjects will be asked not to initiate any new child psychotherapy during the study.
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1
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New Haven, Connecticut 6520
(203) 432-4771
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