Client characteristics associated with behavior change for treated and untreated aggressive boys

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between subject characteristics of aggressive boys and their behavioral changes during a school year. Seventy-six boys in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades were identified by their teachers as the most disruptive and aggressive in their classes. These boys were assigned to untreated control, anger-coping, anger-coping plus goal-setting treatment, and minimal treatment goal-setting cells. The anger-coping treatment was based on cognitive behavioral procedures. In both anger-coping cells, greater reductions in rates of disruptive/aggressive off-task classroom behavior was predicted by having higher rates of these behaviors initially, and greater reductions in parents' ratings of aggression was predicted by having poor social problem-solving skills initially. Additional predictors of reductions in parents' ratings of aggression in one, but not both, anger-coping cells included having higher rates of somatic symptoms and poorer social acceptance by peers. In contrast to the other cells, those boys in the no-treatment group who demonstrated the greatest spontaneous improvement on these change measures were the ones who initially were the best problem-solvers and who had higher levels of self-esteem. This cognitive-behavioral treatment appeared to have most impact with those boys who were the most in need of intervention.