What are the causes of individual differences between children in terms of aggressive behavior and associated behavioural problems?

ACTION: Aggression in Children: Unraveling gene-environment interplay to inform Treatment and InterventiON strategies

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN14253704

Enrollment

1600

Registered

2019-10-01

Start date

2014-06-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2019-10-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Childhood behavioral problems, with a focus on aggression and attention problems Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

The researchers are doing a series of large meta-analyses, which either take cross-sectional or longitudinal data and test associations of trait outcomes (aggression and attention problems) with SNP d

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Biomarker- outcome associations are tested in child (2-18 years) cohorts and for epigenetics also in adults. Inclusions into the original population-based cohort studies were voluntary.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: For genetic studies, to avoid population stratification, ancestries that are different from EU are excluded

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Measures of association (from regression analyses) for biomarker-outcome analyses. For each set of biomarkers (metabolomics, SNP and epigenetic data) an appropriate level of statistical significance is specified. Outcome data on problem behaviors were collected by birth and child cohorts by standardized surveys. The most commonly employed instruments to assess childhood aggressive and attention problems came from the Achenbach System of Empirically based Assessment (ASEBA; Achenbach et al. 2017) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman 2001). These two instruments accounted for > 70% of the phenotype data. -Achenbach TM, Ivanova MY, Rescorla LA (2017) Empirically based assessment and taxonomy of psychopathology for ages 1½–90+ years: Developmental, multi-informant, and multicultural findings. Compr Psychiatry 79:4–18. doi: 10.1016/J.COMPPSYCH.2017.03.006 - Goodman R (2001) Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:1337–1345. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200111000-00015	—

Measure

Time frame

Measures of association (from regression analyses) for biomarker-outcome analyses. For each set of biomarkers (metabolomics, SNP and epigenetic data) an appropriate level of statistical significance is specified. Outcome data on problem behaviors were collected by birth and child cohorts by standardized surveys. The most commonly employed instruments to assess childhood aggressive and attention problems came from the Achenbach System of Empirically based Assessment (ASEBA; Achenbach et al. 2017) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman 2001). These two instruments accounted for > 70% of the phenotype data. -Achenbach TM, Ivanova MY, Rescorla LA (2017) Empirically based assessment and taxonomy of psychopathology for ages 1½–90+ years: Developmental, multi-informant, and multicultural findings. Compr Psychiatry 79:4–18. doi: 10.1016/J.COMPPSYCH.2017.03.006 - Goodman R (2001) Psychometric Properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40:1337–1345. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200111000-00015

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Based on primary analyses, gene-based and network tests were carried out.	—

Countries

Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026