externalizing behavior problems
Conditions
Interventions
Participants in the intervention condition will receive 11 individual 45-minute sessions of the Think Cool Act Cool emotion regulation training. This is a manualized experimental training, that is des
Sponsors
Utrecht University
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: The following inclusion criteria will be used: a subclinical or clinical level of externalizing behavior problems as reported by teachers (TRF externalizing subscale > 84th percentile) and average or above average intelligence (estimated IQ score > 80).
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: Participants are excluded if they experience severe Autism Spectrum symptoms as reported by their teacher (ASV symptom score > 98th percentile) and/or if their language, auditory or visual skills are severely hindered (as evidenced by an indication of the school psychologist that the adolescent possesses insufficient Dutch language skills to understand questionnaires and training, or has an auditory or visual disability).
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Emotion regulation difficulties. The Dutch version of the brief Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) will be used to measure emotion regulation problems. The DERS is a 15-item self-report measure that assesses difficulties in emotion regulation. The items (e.g., “When I am upset, I become out of control”) are rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always). Emotion regulation strategies. Emotion regulation strategies in response to feelings of anger will be assessed with the Dutch version of the Fragensbogen zur Erhebung der Emotionsregulation bei Kinder und Jugendlichen (FEEL-KJ). The subscale anger is assessed in this study and consists of 30 items (e.g., “If I feel angry… I do something fun”) that are rated on a 5-point scale from 1 (never) to 5 (almost always). The questionnaire distinguishes adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. In addition, cognitive and behavioral emotion regulation strategies will be measured with a newly developed vignette measure. The measure is based on earlier vignette measures. The adolescent reads a vignette that is meant to elicit feelings of anger, and rates how likely it is that he/she will use a specific emotion regulation strategy, on a 7-point scale from 0 (definitely not) to 6 (definitely). Per vignette, there are six behavioral strategies (adaptive strategies: relaxation, behavioral distraction, social support; maladaptive strategies: direct expression, indirect expression, avoidance), and six cognitive strategies (adaptive strategies: cognitive reappraisal, cognitive distraction, putting into perspective; maladaptive strategies: self-blame, rumination, suppression). Externalizing behavior. Externalizing behavior will be measured from a multi-informant perspective, with subscales of the ASEBA-questionnaires that are administered to adolescents, their teachers, and parents. Adolescents (YSR), Teachers (TRF), and Parents (CBCL) will complete respectively the 32, 32, and 35 item | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Secondary outcome measures. Mood variability. Mood variability will be measured with the Daily Mood Device, an adapted version of the Electronic Mood Device. In the current study, the mood variability measure is integrated in the weekly measure smartphone application. At each measurement moment, adolescents are asked to rate the intensity of their daily mood for happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety (“Today I feel …”) on five consecutive days. Each mood state will be measured with three items (12 items in total), that are rated on 9-point scale from 1 (not happy / angry / … ) to 9 (happy / angry / …). The words that are used for happiness are “glad”, “happy”, and “cheerful”, for sadness: “sad”, “down”, and “dreary”, for anger: “angry”, “cross”, and “short-tempered”, and for anxiety: “afraid”, “anxious”, and “worried”. Internalizing problems. Internalizing problems will be reported by the adolescents with the internalizing scale of the Youth Self Report age 11-18. This subscale consists of 34 items (e.g., “I cry a lot”) that are rated on a 3-point scale from 0 (not true) to 2 (very true or often true). Potential mediators. Emotion regulation skills (see for measures the primary outcome section) and social information processes are viewed as protentional mediators for models in which the effects of the Think Cool Act Cool training on externalizing behavior problems are tested. Social information processing. Social information processing skills biases and deficits will be assessed with the Sociale Informatie Verwerkings Test (SIVT). The SIVT consists of six videos that show hostile, ambiguous or accidental interpersonal problems, involving a peer or adult perpetrator. In all videos, the outcome of the situation is negative for the victim. Different steps of social information processing (encoding, interpretation, goal setting, response generation, response evaluation and selection) are measured with a semi-structured interview and multiple-choice questions. I | — |
Contacts
Public ContactL.W. Brinke, te
Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University
Outcome results
None listed