Transdiagnostic Group Intervention for Children With Behavior Problems

University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Emotional Disturbances; Behavioral Symptoms

Treatments: Behavioral: Group Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02794051

16-0275

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study fills a notable gap in the transdiagnostic literature by evaluating whether an evidence-based transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders such as the Unified Protocol for Children (UP-C) is effective for treating childhood behavior problems.

Full description

By participating in the study, child participants will learn emotion regulation skills and have opportunities to interact and practice skills with other children who have similar problems. In addition, parent participants will learn effective parenting skills, including appropriate limit-setting, use of praise and consequences, and empathy, that may help them effectively navigate the challenges of caring for a child with behavior concerns (1). Parents will also have the opportunity to interact with other parents who face similar challenges, providing validation and support. Upon completion of the study, investigators plan to share these findings at professional conferences and submit manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals. Collectively, this study will add to the literature in the pediatric mental health field and may also serve as a model for other outpatient clinics regarding implementation and provision of a transdiagnostic approach to treat children with behavior problems. Thus, the main goals of the current study are to examine the effectiveness of the UP-C group treatment in reducing childhood behavior problems, evaluate parents' satisfaction with this treatment, and determine the feasibility of implementing this treatment in a pediatric outpatient setting.

Enrollment: 8 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 8 to 12 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Ages 8 - 12 years
• English speaking
• Primary Behavior Disorder
• At least 1 English-speaking parent/legal guardian who can provide informed consent for the child
• Parent/Legal Guardian must agree to participate in the Trial

Exclusion criteria

• Child is: a ward of the state

• has active suicidal ideation

• has homicidal ideation

• has self-harm behaviors

• has an intellectual disability

• has a pervasive developmental disability or significant developmental delay

• has an active substance use disorder

• is currently participating in individual or group psychotherapy, or

• has participated in therapy within the past year

• has a sibling that is also enrolled in the study

• Parents/Legal Guardians that:

  1. are unwilling to participate in the study
  2. are non-English speaking
  3. have an intellectual disability
  4. have a pervasive developmental disability or
  5. a significant developmental delay
  6. do not have legal custody of the child participant
  7. do not reside in the same home as the child participant

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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8 participants in 1 patient group

Unified Protocol for Children

Experimental group

Description:

Child participants with behavior problems between the ages of 8-12 and their caregivers will participate in a transdiagnostic group therapy protocol.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Group Therapy