Behavior modification of aggressive children in child welfare: evaluation of a combined intervention program.
Adding the TAC cognitive-behavioral package to usual child-welfare services moderately improves parent- and teacher-reported social and conduct problems in aggressive 8-young learners.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tested a new add-on program called TAC. TAC stands for Training with Aggressive Children.
The team worked with 8- to young learners already in child-welfare care. All kids had serious aggression or conduct problems.
Half the kids got usual services plus TAC. The other half got only the usual services. Parents and teachers filled out rating scales before and after.
What they found
Parents and teachers both saw moderate gains. Kids in the TAC group showed fewer fights and better social skills.
The gains were not huge, but they were steady across home and school.
How this fits with other research
Jones et al. (1992) showed that teaching kids to ask for attention cuts aggression better than time-out. TAC uses similar FCT steps, but adds extra social-skills lessons.
Koegel et al. (1992) used video self-review to boost playground skills. TAC also teaches social skills, yet does it through live coaching instead of video.
Anger et al. (1976) linked daily report cards to home rewards. TAC keeps the home-school link but folds it into a full cognitive-behavioral package.
SLibero et al. (2016) reviewed ABA for aggression in autism. They found FBA plus reinforcement works best. TAC fits this pattern even though its sample was broader than autism.
Why it matters
If you serve kids in foster care or group homes, TAC gives you a ready-made add-on. You keep your current case plan and simply layer in the TAC lessons. The study shows even modest gains can matter when kids face big life stress.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children and adolescents with aggressive disorders are prevalent in child welfare settings. Therefore, the assumption is that child welfare services would benefit from a cognitive-behavioral intervention. This study investigates whether implementation of the training with aggressive children (TAC) could improve the outcome of child welfare. Twelve children (average age 10 years), diagnosed with an oppositional defiant disorder or a conduct disorder, are treated either with a child welfare program or with a combined intervention of child welfare program and TAC. Before and immediately after completion of the combined treatment, parent and teacher ratings are collected. Parents report children participating in child welfare and TAC to show a stronger decline in social and conduct problems as well as a clearer increase in prosocial behavior. Teachers see a better improvement in social problems and tended to report a decrease in aggressive behavior. Results confirm that the TAC can enhance effects of a child welfare program.
Behavior modification, 2009 · doi:10.1177/0145445509336700