Study of Children at Risk for Disruptive Behavior Disorders

March 3, 2008 updated by: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

A Longitudinal Study of Children at Risk for Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Transitions From Early Childhood to Middle Childhood and Adolescence

A conduct disorder is characterized by repetitive and persistent patterns of behavior where the basic rights of others and rules are violated.

This study investigates characteristics of children and their surroundings (environments) that place them at risk for the development of disruptive behavior disorders and associated disorders of anxiety and mood. Children ages 4 - 5 with moderate (subclinical) and severe (clinical) rates of misconduct during the preschool period are compared to low risk children. Children and their families were recruited from 1989-1991 and are being studied at five specific times:

  1. Preschool (4 - 5 years)
  2. Early childhood (6 - 7 years)
  3. Middle childhood (9 - 10 years)
  4. Early adolescence (13 - 14 years)
  5. Mid-adolescence (15 - 16 years)

Researchers will look closely at biological, intellectual, emotional, and behavioral factors that are thought to protect against and/or increase the risk of developing a conduct problem. These factors have been studied in older children and are shown to be associated with disruptive behavior disorders.

The goals of this research study are;

  1. Create a database showing the characteristics of the development of disruptive behavior problems.
  2. Identify the key risk and protective factors that contribute to the stability or change in behavior problems over time.
  3. Identify the ways that children interact socially and relate them to the possibility of developing a problem of behavior.
  4. Identify how experiences and the emotions associated with experiences may play a role in the development of related psychiatric conditions, like depression and anxiety.
  5. Establish measures of the different components of negative emotions associated with disruptive/antisocial, anxiety, and mood disorders.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

This study investigates characteristics of children and their environments that place them at risk for the development of disruptive behavior disorders and co-morbid internalizing problems (anxiety and mood disorders). Children ages 4-5 with moderate (subclinical) and high (clinical) rates of misconduct during the preschool period are compared with low risk children. Children and their families are studied again at four later time points: (a) early childhood (6-7 yrs.), (b) middle childhood (9-10 yrs.), (c) early adolescence (13-14 yrs.), and (d) mid-adolescence (15-16 yrs.). Assessments of children include dimensions of biological, cognitive, affective, emotional and behavioral functioning, that have been identified in research with older children as putative risk and protective factors in the development of conduct problems. Socialization experiences within and outside the family, also hypothesized to influence developmental trajectories are examined. Currently, Time 4 assessments are being conducted, with three-quarters of the research subjects tested. Behavior problems show significant stability across the first three time periods. However, some children improve over time, changes that result, in part, from more optimal environmental conditions. Different patterns of emotion dysregulation, ANS, and HPA activity in antisocial preschool children predict different types of externalizing problems at later time points. Behavior problems and their correlates differ for young disruptive boys and girls: Oppositional, aggressive girls are more likely to have co-morbid internalizing problems, and emotion regulation patterns that may decrease risk for continued antisocial behavior, but increase risk for depression and anxiety later in development.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment

900

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
        • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • ADULT
  • OLDER_ADULT
  • CHILD

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Preschool age children with conduct problems and normal preschool age children used for control.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 1988

Study Completion

December 1, 2000

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 9, 2002

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

December 10, 2002

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 4, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2008

Last Verified

January 1, 2000

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 880217
  • 88-M-0217

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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