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Disruptive BehaviorRDoC-CBTNCT01965184

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Disruptive Behavior in Children and Adolescents

A study testing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression and Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT) in people with Disruptive Behavior and Aggression, run by Yale University at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This is a randomized controlled study of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for disruptive behavior such as irritability, 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… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 8 to 16 years
Conditions the study is for
Disruptive Behavior, Aggression, Anger
What is being tested?
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression and Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT)
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
101 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
14 Nov 2013to 3 Nov 2018
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 8 to 16 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child

Who may be able to join

  • Boys and girls, 8 to 16 years of age.
  • T-Score > 65 on the parent-rated Aggressive Behavior Scale of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).
  • Unmedicated or on stable medication for aggression, ADHD, anxiety, or depression for at least 6 weeks, with no planned changes for duration of study.
  • Children can speak English sufficiently enough to participate in CBT and study assessments.
  • 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.]
  • Children should be able to meet fMRI data quality requirements at baseline [to enable pre- to post-treatment comparison.]
  • Families can commute to the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, CT for weekly visits.

Who cannot join

  • IQ below 85.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Concurrent psychotherapy can continue, but CBT for aggression is exclusionary. Subjects will be asked not to initiate any new child psychotherapy during the study.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Yale University

    New Haven, Connecticut, 06520

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: 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 irritability, 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.

Read the detailed description

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a behavioral intervention that consists of 12 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.

Being tested
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression, Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT)
Keywords
child, cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, aggression, disruptive behavior, treatment, frustrative non-reward, irritability
Medical subject headings
Problem Behavior, Aggression, Patient Compliance

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and AggressionBehavioural

  • Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT)Behavioural

Study groups in NCT01965184
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggressive BehaviorExperimentalCBT is a behavioral intervention that consists of 12 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.
Receives: Behavioral: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression
Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT)Active comparatorSPT consists of 12 sessions that are focused on discussing peer relationships and family functioning with a goal of enhancing subjective well-being
Receives: Behavioral: Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT)

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Modified Overt Aggression Scale

    Modified Overt Aggression Scale is a 16-item scale that reflects the frequency and severity of incidents of aggressive behavior. Scores can range from 0 (minimum) to 300 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome.

    Measured: basline (week 0)

  2. Modified Overt Aggression Scale

    Modified Overt Aggression Scale is a 16-item scale that reflects the frequency and severity of incidents of aggressive behavior. Scores can range from 0 (minimum) to 300 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome.

    Measured: midpoint (week 6)

  3. Modified Overt Aggression Scale

    Modified Overt Aggression Scale is a 16-item scale that reflects the frequency and severity of incidents of aggressive behavior. Scores can range from 0 (minimum) to 300 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome.

    Measured: endpoint (week 12)

  4. Modified Overt Aggression Scale

    Modified Overt Aggression Scale is a 16-item scale that reflects the frequency and severity of incidents of aggressive behavior. Scores can range from 0 (minimum) to 300 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome.

    Measured: follow up (3 months)

  5. The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score

    The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score assigned by an independent evaluator (IE) who will be blind to treatment assignment is the categorical primary outcome measure of aggressive behavior. The CGI-I reflects the IE's assessment of overall change from baseline rated on a scale from 1 to 7 where 1 is very much improved, 2 is much improved, 3 is minimally improved, 4 is no change, 5 is minimally worse, 6 is much worth, and 7 is very much worse. Higher scores reflect worse outcome. By convention, ratings of very much improved (1) or much improved (2) define positive response; all other scores are classified as a negative response.

    Measured: basline (week 0)

  6. The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score

    The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score assigned by an independent evaluator (IE) who will be blind to treatment assignment is the categorical primary outcome measure of aggressive behavior. The CGI-I reflects the IE's assessment of overall change from baseline rated on a scale from 1 to 7 where 1 is very much improved, 2 is much improved, 3 is minimally improved, 4 is no change, 5 is minimally worse, 6 is much worth, and 7 is very much worse. Higher scores reflect worse outcome. By convention, ratings of very much improved (1) or much improved (2) define positive response; all other scores are classified as a negative response.

    Measured: midpoint (week 6)

  7. The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score

    The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score assigned by an independent evaluator (IE) who will be blind to treatment assignment is the categorical primary outcome measure of aggressive behavior. The CGI-I reflects the IE's assessment of overall change from baseline rated on a scale from 1 to 7 where 1 is very much improved, 2 is much improved, 3 is minimally improved, 4 is no change, 5 is minimally worse, 6 is much worth, and 7 is very much worse. Higher scores reflect worse outcome. By convention, ratings of very much improved (1) or much improved (2) define positive response; all other scores are classified as a negative response.

    Measured: endpoint (week 12)

  8. The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score

    The Clinical Global Impression - Improvement Score assigned by an independent evaluator (IE) who will be blind to treatment assignment is the categorical primary outcome measure of aggressive behavior. The CGI-I reflects the IE's assessment of overall change from baseline rated on a scale from 1 to 7 where 1 is very much improved, 2 is much improved, 3 is minimally improved, 4 is no change, 5 is minimally worse, 6 is much worth, and 7 is very much worse. Higher scores reflect worse outcome. By convention, ratings of very much improved (1) or much improved (2) define positive response; all other scores are classified as a negative response.

    Measured: follow up (3 months)

Secondary outcomes (4)
  1. The Child Behavior Checklist

    The Child Behavior Checklist is a parent rating of child psychopathology that has two factor-analytically derived scales of disruptive behavior. Child Behavior Checklist Aggressive Behavior Scale consists of 18 items, rated as 0, 1 or 2, with a scale raw score range from 0 (minimum) to 36 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome. Raw scores are also converted to T-scores with possible range from 0 to 100 with higher scores reflecting worse outcomes and T-scores of 65 and higher reflecting clinically significant range.

    Measured: basline (week 0)

  2. The Child Behavior Checklist

    The Child Behavior Checklist is a parent rating of child psychopathology that has two factor-analytically derived scales of disruptive behavior. Child Behavior Checklist Aggressive Behavior Scale consists of 18 items, rated as 0, 1 or 2, with a scale raw score range from 0 (minimum) to 36 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome. Raw scores are also converted to T-scores with possible range from 0 to 100 with higher scores reflecting worse outcomes and T-scores of 65 and higher reflecting clinically significant range.

    Measured: midpoint (week 6)

  3. The Child Behavior Checklist

    The Child Behavior Checklist is a parent rating of child psychopathology that has two factor-analytically derived scales of disruptive behavior. Child Behavior Checklist Aggressive Behavior Scale consists of 18 items, rated as 0, 1 or 2, with a scale raw score range from 0 (minimum) to 36 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome. Raw scores are also converted to T-scores with possible range from 0 to 100 with higher scores reflecting worse outcomes and T-scores of 65 and higher reflecting clinically significant range.

    Measured: endpoint (week 12)

  4. The Child Behavior Checklist

    The Child Behavior Checklist is a parent rating of child psychopathology that has two factor-analytically derived scales of disruptive behavior. Child Behavior Checklist Aggressive Behavior Scale consists of 18 items, rated as 0, 1 or 2, with a scale raw score range from 0 (minimum) to 36 (maximum) with higher scores reflecting worse outcome. Raw scores are also converted to T-scores with possible range from 0 to 100 with higher scores reflecting worse outcomes and T-scores of 65 and higher reflecting clinically significant range.

    Measured: follow up (3 months)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted18 Oct 2013 (estimated)
  2. Study start14 Nov 2013
  3. Primary completion3 Aug 2018
  4. Study completion3 Nov 2018

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
101 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01965184
Sponsor's protocol ID
0102012121-C
Other IDs
R01MH101514
Acronym
RDoC-CBT
Status last verified
Nov 2023
First submitted
14 Oct 2013
Last updated
18 Nov 2023
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes

Publications

  • Sukhodolsky, D. G. & Scahill, L. (2012). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anger and aggression in children. New York: Guilford Press.

  • Sukhodolsky DG, Vitulano LA, Carroll DH, McGuire J, Leckman JF, Scahill L. Randomized trial of anger control training for adolescents with Tourette's syndrome and disruptive behavior. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2009 Apr;48(4):413-421. doi: 10.1097/CHI.0b013e3181985050.

    PubMed 19242384
  • Perlman SB, Pelphrey KA. Developing connections for affective regulation: age-related changes in emotional brain connectivity. J Exp Child Psychol. 2011 Mar;108(3):607-20. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2010.08.006. Epub 2010 Oct 23.

    PubMed 20971474

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression and Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT) in people with Disruptive Behavior and Aggression, run by Yale University at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 7 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Nov 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Modified Overt Aggression Scale (time frame: basline (week 0)). The study lists 8 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01965184, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Nov 2023.

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