CBT for Anger and Aggression in Children: a Pilot Study of Irritability and Suicidality

May 17, 2026 updated by: Geha Mental Health Center

CBT for Anger and Aggression in Children: A Pilot Study of Irritability and Suicidality

This pilot study evaluated whether cognitive behavioral therapy for anger and aggression, added to treatment as usual, was associated with reductions in irritability and suicidal ideation in preteen children with externalizing disorders. Children aged 8 to 12 years who were referred to an outpatient child psychiatry clinic for irritability, anger outbursts, or reactive aggression were assigned to CBT-AA plus treatment as usual or treatment as usual alone. The intervention included individual child sessions focused on emotion regulation, problem-solving, and social skills, with parent guidance sessions. Irritability and suicidal ideation were assessed at baseline, during treatment, at the end of treatment, and at follow-up.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This was a partially randomized, pragmatic pilot study conducted in a child psychiatric outpatient clinic at Geha Mental Health Center in Israel. The study included children aged 8 to 12 years with externalizing disorders, including ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, or conduct disorder, who were referred because of clinically significant irritability and/or reactive aggression.

Participants were assigned to cognitive behavioral therapy for anger and aggression plus treatment as usual or to treatment as usual alone. During the initial treatment cycle, allocation was conducted using a computerized randomization procedure with sequentially numbered, sealed opaque envelopes and stratification by recent suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior. In later treatment cycles, assignment was constrained by therapist availability and scheduling within the outpatient service. For these later assignments, participants were allocated according to treatment capacity and order of referral rather than by participant clinical characteristics.

CBT-AA was delivered as an individual, in-person, protocol-based treatment. The intervention focused on three main domains: emotion regulation, social problem-solving, and social skills. Treatment as usual consisted of routine psychiatric consultation, pharmacological treatment when indicated, and non-behavioral psychosocial interventions available through the clinic.

The primary outcome was irritability, assessed with the Irritability and Dysregulation of Emotions Questionnaire-13 and the Affective Reactivity Index. Secondary outcomes included suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior assessed using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Assessments were conducted at baseline, after treatment modules, at the end of treatment, and during follow-up.

The study was approved by the Institutional Helsinki Committee of Geha Mental Health Center. This record is being submitted retrospectively.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

46

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Israel
      • Petah Tikva, Israel, 49100
        • Geha Mental Health Center

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

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Child age 8 to 12 years
  • Parent or guardian able to read and write in Hebrew
  • Receiving care in the Geha outpatient child and adolescent clinics
  • Clinical diagnosis of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, or conduct disorder
  • Irritability and/or reactive aggression as the reason for treatment seeking

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Psychotic disorder or bipolar disorder
  • Substance use
  • Autism spectrum disorder
  • IQ score less than 75 or clinical diagnosis of intellectual disability
  • Immediate suicide risk requiring hospitalization as determined by the referring clinician

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?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression (CBT-AA) Plus Treatment as Usual (TAU)
Participants received cognitive behavioral therapy for anger and aggression in addition to treatment as usual.
Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anger and Aggression
Protocol-based individual cognitive behavioral therapy for anger and aggression delivered in person in an outpatient child psychiatry clinic. The intervention included three treatment modules: emotion regulation, social problem-solving, and social skills. The emotion regulation module focused on recognizing anger triggers, monitoring emotional intensity, labeling emotions, identifying bodily signs of anger, and using strategies to reduce physiological arousal. The social problem-solving module focused on interpreting social cues, considering other perspectives, generating alternative responses, and managing the effect of anger on thinking and decision-making. The social skills module focused on assertiveness, prosocial responses to interpersonal conflict, role-play, guided practice, and generalization of skills to daily situations. Parent guidance sessions were included, and parents were briefed by therapists during the treatment process. The intervention was delivered in addition to t
Other Names:
  • CBT-AA
Behavioral: Treatment as Usual (TAU)
Routine outpatient psychiatric care, including psychiatric consultation, pharmacological treatment when indicated, and non-behavioral psychosocial interventions available through the clinic.
Other Names:
  • TAU
Active Comparator: Treatment as Usual (TAU)
Participants received treatment as usual alone, including routine psychiatric consultation, pharmacological treatment when indicated, and non-behavioral psychosocial interventions available through the clinic.
Behavioral: Treatment as Usual (TAU)
Routine outpatient psychiatric care, including psychiatric consultation, pharmacological treatment when indicated, and non-behavioral psychosocial interventions available through the clinic.
Other Names:
  • TAU

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Parent-Reported Irritability Measured by the Irritability and Dysregulation of Emotions Questionnaire-13
Time Frame: Baseline; end of Module 1, approximately Weeks 6 to 9; end of Module 2, approximately Weeks 10 to 15; end of Module 3/treatment completion, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.
Irritability was assessed using the Irritability and Dysregulation of Emotions Questionnaire-13. Parent-report and child-report versions were administered. Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale from -3 to +3, and summary scores were calculated as the mean of completed items. Higher scores indicate greater irritability.
Baseline; end of Module 1, approximately Weeks 6 to 9; end of Module 2, approximately Weeks 10 to 15; end of Module 3/treatment completion, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Irritability Measured by the Affective Reactivity Index
Time Frame: Baseline; end of treatment, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.
Irritability was assessed using the Affective Reactivity Index. Parent-report and child-report versions were administered. Items are rated on a 3-point Likert scale, and summary scores were calculated as the mean of completed items. Higher scores indicate greater irritability.
Baseline; end of treatment, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.
Change in Suicidal Ideation Severity Measured by the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale
Time Frame: Baseline; end of Module 1, approximately Weeks 6 to 9; end of Module 2, approximately Weeks 10 to 15; end of Module 3/treatment completion, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.
Suicidal ideation severity was assessed for the relevant C-SSRS reference period at each assessment. The primary suicidal ideation analysis used baseline, end of treatment, 1-month follow-up, and 3-month follow-up assessments.
Baseline; end of Module 1, approximately Weeks 6 to 9; end of Module 2, approximately Weeks 10 to 15; end of Module 3/treatment completion, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.
Occurrence of Suicidal Behavior Measured by the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale
Time Frame: Baseline; end of Module 1, approximately Weeks 6 to 9; end of Module 2, approximately Weeks 10 to 15; end of Module 3/treatment completion, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.
Suicidal behavior was assessed using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Suicidal behavior was coded as present if a suicide attempt, interrupted attempt, or aborted attempt was reported by either the parent or the child during the assessment period.
Baseline; end of Module 1, approximately Weeks 6 to 9; end of Module 2, approximately Weeks 10 to 15; end of Module 3/treatment completion, approximately Weeks 16 to 23; 1 month after treatment completion; and 3 months after treatment completion.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Geha Mental Health Center

Collaborators

Chief Scientist, The Israel Ministry of Science

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tomer Levy, MD, Geha Mental Health Center

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 (Actual)

October 22, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 4, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

February 10, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 17, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 17, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • FDAAA 801

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data that underlie the published results may be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, subject to approval by the study investigators and applicable institutional and ethics requirements. Data will not be publicly posted because the dataset includes sensitive pediatric mental health and suicidality information.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning 6 months after publication and available for 5 years.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

De-identified individual participant data underlying the published results and analytic code may be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request to the corresponding author. Requests should include a methodologically sound proposal and will be reviewed by the study investigators. Data sharing will be subject to applicable institutional approval, ethics requirements, and a data use agreement. Data will not be publicly posted because they include sensitive pediatric mental health and suicidality information.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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