An
Alternative Therapeutic Intervention
to Reduce Aggression, Emotional Outbursts and Other Behavioral and Emotional
Problems
Continued from
Research Page.
The Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (Bracken, 1992) was administered to each
participant. The examiner read all the test items to children with poor reading
skills. The Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS) is a 150 - item
instrument that yields an overall self concept score and six individual scales:
social, competence, affect, academic, family, and physical. Each item is
answered using a Likert-type 4-point scale from "strongly agree" to
"strongly disagree." The instrument seemed particularly applicable to
this population because of the inclusion of an academic and family scale.
The Test of Hyperactivity, Aggression, Short Attention Span and Psychopathic
Deviance (TOHASP), was administered to each participant. The TOHASP is a 58-item
inventory compiled by the senior author from several sources and inventories
including Conners (1969), Davids (1971), the Braud Behavioral Rating, and the
DSM-III-R (1987). The TOHASP was specifically compiled to measure problems known
to be prevalent among abused males or common problems that were revealed in a
pilot study by Braud and Powell (1997). The TOHASP is comprised of six scales
designed to measure overactivity, short attention span, impulsivity, low
frustration tolerance, aggressive oppositional behavior, and psychopathic
deviance. The child rated each item on a Likert-type 5 point scale from "no
problem" (1) to "very severe problem" (5).
The total sample (N=65) included 35 current residents and 30 recently discharged
residents. The discharged (D) and not discharged (ND) residents were compared on
all measures. When it was found that these two groups differed
statistically on only 4 measures out of 35 they were combined to yield a larger
sample (N=65) so as to compare CPS and JP residents. However, the authors were
somewhat surprised to find that the two populations differed significantly on
only two measures. Juvenile Probation residents admitted to significantly more
symptoms of thought disorder (t(63)=-2.12, p=.038) and phobias (t(63)=-2.06,
p=.043) on the Modified Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Neither of
these two measures differed significantly when comparing discharged and not
discharged residents.
The authors chose the Old Me, New Me Relaxation Program, a
revision of Peace, Harmony, Awareness, (Lupin,
1996). The experimental group (N=20) received 12 relaxation sessions. Each
session included the presentation of the relaxation exercise tape followed by
one of the story tapes. Each story tape is comprised of a guided imagery trip
with soothing sounds effects and music, (Beach, Star, Woods, Secret Place, Magic
Mountain and Robin Returns). The story tapes were specifically written to help
youngsters cope more effectively with a variety of issues including anger,
aggression, frustration, impulsivity, oppositional behavior, hyperactivity, and
cooperation.
Experimental participants (N=20) made statistically improvement as compared to
controls (N=15) on aggression, attention span, and hyperactivity on the TOHASP
(Appendix C). On the Modified Children's Anxiety Scale, experimental
participants demonstrated significant improvement over controls on the anxiety
scale, physiological scale, and the organic scale (Appendix D). The Children's
Behavioral Checklist also demonstrated several areas of significant improvement
of experimental participants over controls. Significance was found on the
following scales: externalizing, internalizing, aggression, delinquency, and
other problems (Appendix E). The authors hypothesized no significant changes in
the self concept scores (MSCS) over such a short period of time and no
significant changes were found.
The present study demonstrates the validity of relaxation therapy in reducing
aggression and other behavior problems. The authors will discuss additional
factors that have been found to increase the effectiveness of relaxation
therapy.
For reprints
of the full study, write Dr. Lendell Braud