Personalizing Psychosocial Intervention for Children With Disruptive Behaviour

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health600 enrolled

Overview

This study will develop and test whether personalized profiles of children with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (DBD) and their parents based on important psychological, emotional, and neuropsychological indicators predict their response to child cognitive behavioral treatment and Behavioral Parent Training (BPT).

To accomplish these goals, the investigators will collect psychological, emotional, and neuropsychological measures before and following cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for both children and parents. The investigators will use statistical modeling to determine profiles of parents of children and children aged 6-12 years with DBD based on key domains of mental health, emotion regulation, cognition, and parent-child behaviour, and observe whether these profiles allow the study team to predict which sub-groups of parents and children are most and least likely to benefit from child CBT and Behavioural Parent Training (BPT).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

600

Conditions

Behavioural Disorder Disruptive Behavior Disorder Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Interventions

Behavioral Parent TrainingBEHAVIORAL

Two 15-session multi-component cognitive-behavioral group treatments for children with disruptive behavior and their parents (i.e., one program for children aged 6-8 years and their parents and another for children aged 9-12 years and their parents. The programs have a child and parent group that are implemented concurrently.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 6 YearsMax age: 12 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria * Diagnosis of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) determined by the supervising Clinical Psychologist based on DSM-5 diagnostic criteria on the C-DISC; and/or clinically at risk symptoms on the Child Behavior Checklist/Teacher Report Form (t score \> 60) * Clinically severe impairment in social, family, peer functioning demonstrated by the parent- and teacher-completed Impairment Rating Scale (IRS) or the virtually administered Columbia Impairment Scale (CIS) * No evidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (based on parent and teacher report) or Intellectual Disability (based on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Task-II OR school reports or psychoeducational assessments). Exclusion Criteria * Presence of Autism or Intellectual Disability * Evidence of cognitive delays or an intellectual disability (based on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test-2 (KBIT-2), verbal and/or IQ composite standard score below 80 or collateral information) * Child behaviour or emotional functioning that make group participation not possible * Child preference for individual treatment. * Parent behaviour or emotional functioning that make group participation not possible * Parent preference for individual treatment.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Changes in child emotional and behavioral problems between baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up

Changes in child emotional and behavioral problems are assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). It asks parents to indicate how true a statement is with regards to their child's emotions or behaviours in the last 6 months: 'not true', 'somewhat true', or 'certainly true'.

Time frame: Baseline (prior to treatment), post-treatment (within 30 days post-intervention completion) and follow-up (1 year post-treatment completion)

Changes in parenting skills between baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up

Parenting skills are assessed using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ). Parents indicate how often an item typically occurs in their home: 'never', 'almost never', 'sometimes', 'often', or 'always'. Each answer corresponds to a score: never = 1, almost never = 2, sometimes = 3, often = 4, and always = 5. The APQ has 3 subscales: positive parenting, inconsistent discipline, and poor supervision. Higher scores on the positive parenting subscale means greater positive parenting skills. Higher scores on the inconsistent discipline subscale means greater instances of inconsistent discipline. Higher scores on the poor supervision subscale means greater instances of poor supervision.