Effects of a Preventive Intervention for Conduct Problems on Risk-Taking and Physiological Responding

• In Event: Physiological Correlates of Conduct Problems and Applications to Treatment

Abstract

Youth with conduct problems have been found to have impaired decision-making abilities accompanied by deficits in generating physiological responses that typically help individuals avoid negative outcomes. It is unclear to what extent these deficits may be improved through intervention. In the current study, 360 youth were selected as being at-risk for aggressive behavior and participated in the Coping Power program – a school-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention designed to reduce antisocial and risk-taking behavior that that involves 34 sessions over 15 months. In addition to comprehensive measures of externalizing problems, youth completed the Iowa Gambling task at pre- and post-intervention time points. This task is designed to assess risk-taking and is thought to rely on the generation of physiological signals to learn the contingencies of the task. Physiological responses were recorded during a baseline period and during the task. We examined changes in risk-taking behavior and physiological responding from pre- to post-intervention, and whether changes mediated changes in externalizing behavior over the course of the intervention. In addition, we examined the effects of moderating variables, including the presence of callous-unemotional traits, the delivery format of the intervention (group versus individual sessions), and pre-intervention levels of physiological responding.

Authors

• Andrea Glenn, University of Alabama

• Francesca Kassing, University of Alabama

• Taylor Caleb, University of Alabama

• John E. Lochman, University of Alabama

• Nicole Powell, University of Alabama