TREATMENT OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN CHILDREN

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The present proposal is a request for an ADAMHA Research Scientist Award. The objectives of the research are to identify and develop effective interventions for antisocial behavior in children. The significance of the focus derives from the relatively high prevalence and clinical referral rates for antisocial behavior, the long-term prognosis of untreated dysfunction, and the absence of interventions with clearly demonstrated efficacy. Developing effective interventions requires a broad-based research program to evaluate treatment and prevention techniques directly, to examine the course of antisocial behavior longitudinally among clinically referred, at-risk, and normative samples, to devise and test models of onset and recidivism of antisocial behavior, and to assess and integrate child, parent, and family dimensions in relation to treatment response. The absence of effective treatments for antisocial behavior signals a somewhat broader problem in the field of developmental psychopathology. In general, relatively little controlled research exists that evaluates alternative treatments for childhood disorders. The dearth of treatment research is conspicuous, given the prevalence of childhood disorders, the need for effective treatments, and the range of available, but unevaluated, interventions. Although the primary focus of the proposal is on the treatment of antisocial behavior in children, the paradigm of our studies will be extended to address a broader range of treatment questions. To that end, the proposal and career commitment it reflects move toward developing a broader research program on child and psychotherapy. Two parallel projects are directed to identify research priorities for child therapy by providing a nation-wide survey of psychologists and child psychiatrists in practice to determine research priorities for psychotherapy research (Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy: A Survey of Practitioners--Rivendell Foundation) and by characterizing the focus, questions, and methods that guide contemporary treatment studies (The Effectiveness of Treatment Practices for Children and Adolescents--The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). These latter projects and professional growth experiences of the RSA are designed to identify research Lacunae and to expand the focus of the proposed award research to study child psychotherapy.