Effects of Intensive Behavioral Treatment for Children With Varying Levels of Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits

The purpose of this study was to examine whether callous–unemotional (CU) traits moderated the effects of intensive behavior therapy in elementary school-age children with varying levels of conduct problems (CP). Both treatment response (magnitude of change between pre- and posttreatment) and treatment outcomes (likelihood of normalization from treatment) were examined. Participants were 67 children (n = 49 boys, M age = 9.6 years) with varying levels of CP and CU who participated in an intensive 8-week summer treatment program (STP) in which behavior therapy was delivered to children in recreational and classroom settings and to parents via weekly parent training sessions. Effects of treatment were measured using parent and teacher ratings of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), callous behavior, and impairment. Results showed that CU moderated treatment effects for CD and callous behavior but not ODD or impairment. The moderating effects showed some evidence that participants with high CP and high CU before treatment had better treatment responses (larger change between pre- and posttreatment) but worse treatment outcomes (lower likelihood of normalization after treatment). These results suggest that intensive treatment, such as the STP, may be necessary but not sufficient for children with CP and CU traits.

© This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Files

Metadata

Work Title Effects of Intensive Behavioral Treatment for Children With Varying Levels of Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Pevitr S. Bansal
  2. Daniel A. Waschbusch
  3. Sarah M. Haas
  4. Dara E. Babinski
  5. Sara King
  6. Brendan F. Andrade
  7. Michael T. Willoughby
Keyword
  1. Conduct problems
  2. Callous-unemotional
  3. Antisocial
  4. Behavior therapy
  5. Treatment response
  6. Treatment outcomes
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Behavior Therapy
Publication Date January 17, 2019
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2018.03.003
Deposited December 05, 2023

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Bansal_et_al__2019__-_STP_CU_open_access_version-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Pevitr S. Bansal
  • Added Creator Daniel A. Waschbusch
  • Added Creator Sarah M. Haas
  • Added Creator Dara E Babinski
  • Added Creator Sara King
  • Added Creator Brendan F. Andrade
  • Added Creator Michael T. Willoughby
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Conduct problems, Callous-unemotional, Antisocial, Behavior therapy, Treatment response, Treatment outcomes
    Publication Date
    • 2019-01-01
    • 2019-01-17
  • Renamed Creator Dara E. Babinski Show Changes
    • Dara E Babinski
    • Dara E. Babinski
  • Updated