Behaviour therapy and child welfare - results of an approach to improve mental health care of aggressive children

Objective: The Training with Aggressive Children (Petermann & Petermann, 2008) was integrated into the setting of a child welfare service. This study examined, if mental health care of aggressive children in child welfare settings can be improved, compared the effectiveness of a combination of the training and child welfare intervention after six months with effects of the TAK. Method: 25 Children with conduct problems ( 24 boys, one girl) aged 7; 6 to 13; 0 years participated in the study. Results: A pretest-follow up comparison of parent ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) documented a large reduction of aggressive-delinquent behaviour and social problems in the training and child welfare group. Furthermore, conduct and peer relationship problems decreased essentially on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). By reducing conduct, attention and social problems, and delinquent behaviour, the therapeutic outcome of the training and child welfare group was clearly superior to training group. Conclusions: In comparison to the training, the combination of child welfare and training seemed to reduce a wider range of behavioural problems more effectively. This indicates that combined intervention programs can optimize mental health care of aggressive children.