Date Available

8-2-2021

Year of Publication

2021

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Michelle M. Martel

Abstract

Extant research suggests negative outcomes associated with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) can be avoided with early intervention, with the most efficacious being behavioral parent training. However, parent training suffers from limitations including high drop-out rates, adherence, and long-term maintenance. Yet, consistent predictors of differential outcomes among individuals have not been identified. Etiological work suggests traits may be an early marker of disruptive behaviors. The goal of the current study is to examine child traits as a moderator of treatment outcomes for ADHD and ODD, using an efficacious short parent training treatment, Brief Behavioral Intervention (BBI). Twenty-six parent-child dyads completed BBI; measures of traits and symptoms were completed by parents pre-treatment, and measures of symptoms were completed by parents again post-treatment. Results suggested interactions between traits and pre-treatment symptoms were not significant, but main effects indicated pre-treatment hyperactivity/impulsivity and surgency were significantly related to post-treatment symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity. Therefore, child traits did not appear to moderate treatment effects in this small sample. However, the current study was limited by the small sample size that limited statistical power to detect significant interactions. Future work will evaluate effects in a larger sample once additional data is collected.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2021.326

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