Testing Effectiveness of a Community-Based Aggression Management Program for Children 7 to 11 Years Old and Their Families

• NCJ Number: 215619
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 45 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2006 Pages: 1085-1093
• Author(s): Ellen L. Lipman M.D.; Michael H. Boyle Ph.D.; Charles Cunningham Ph.D.; Meghan Kenny M.A.; Carrie Sniderman M.Sc.; Eric Duku M.Sc.; Brenda Mills CYW; Peter Evans CFT; Marjorie Waymouth B.A.
• Date Published: September 2006
• Length: 9 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Ontario Mental Health Foundation
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study assessed the impact of a community-based anger-management group on children's aggressive behaviors, using a randomized, controlled trial (RCT).

Abstract

Measurements of aggressive behavior before and after the program showed no significant difference between program participants and a matched control group that did not participate in the program. Although it did not reach the level of statistical significance, the improvement that occurred favored the program families on all parent-rated measures (child behavior, parent-child relationship, and parenting stress). Children's self-rated anger did not improve with intervention participation. The authors advise that if small effects of an intervention are deemed socially important, future program evaluations will require much larger samples to test their effectiveness. Program modifications, such as changes in the in-home sessions and promotion of additional adult prompting may also be required to improve program effectiveness. The program recruited families with children 7 to 11 years old (n=123). For a child to be admitted to the program, parents were required to show concern about their child's anger/aggressive behavior, to participate in a telephone behavior screen, and to sign an agreement to comply with the RCT procedure. Program participants were offered 3 parent psychoeducation/skill-building group sessions, 10 weekly child group sessions, and 3 in-home family practice sessions. Nine groups were conducted from August 2002 to August 2004. Interviewers collected data on all study participants, both control and experimental, before the program began and after it ended. The outcomes measured were child-rated anger and parent-rated child aggressive behavior, externalizing (acting-out) behavior and hostility, parent-child relationship, and parenting stress. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 41 references