Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
6-8-2022
Year of Publication
2022
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Psychology
Advisor
Dr. Michelle M. Martel
Abstract
Conduct problems (CP) are a class of disruptive and aggressive behaviors (e.g., aggression, vandalism) comprised of both oppositional defiant and conduct disorder. CP are highly heterogenous and one vital factor that parses out this heterogeneity is affect, specifically the affective traits of irritability (IRR) and limited prosocial emotions (LPE). The current study examined how IRR and LPE predict distinct aspects of treatment efficacy including (1) treatment response (i.e., magnitude of change from week 1 to week 5); (2) trajectories (i.e., shape of symptom change); and (3) time-out (i.e., behavioral and emotional reactions to time-out). Participants were 49 youth aged 7-12 years (71.4% male, 77.6% meeting CP criteria) who participated in an intensive behavioral summer treatment program. Outcomes were observational ratings of CP and parent-ratings of impairment. Pre-treatment IRR predicted reduced CP at week 5. Neither IRR nor LPE exerted any significant effect upon impairment treatment response, nor trajectories of change, nor behavioral or emotional reactions to time-out. IRR may be particularly important to consider in treating CP in youth. Future research should employ measurement of the distinct underlying treatment mechanisms (e.g., emotion dysregulation, empathy) to effectively target the mechanisms contributing to aggression and impairment in youth with different affective profiles.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2022.219
Recommended Citation
Bansal, Pevitr Singh, "THE ROLE OF AFFECTIVE HETEROGENEITY ON TREATMENT EFFECTS FOR YOUTH WITH CONDUCT PROBLEMS" (2022). Theses and Dissertations--Psychology. 217.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/217
