I use OLD ME, NEW ME in both my learning disability center and in my private practice. I found these tapes to be very effective in increasing self esteem and self control, and decreasing anxiety and aggression. I highly recommend that parents use them with their children at home.

Lendell Braud, Ph.D.
T.S.U. University, Houston, Texas

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Research Results

An Alternative Therapeutic Intervention
to Reduce Aggression, Emotional Outbursts and Other Behavioral and Emotional Problems

Abused males and delinquent males who are emotionally disturbed are often placed in a residential treatment facility for therapy. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the authors wanted to compare Children's Protective Service (CPS) residents to Juvenile Probation (JP) residents in order to determine differences which might need to be addressed in treatment plans. Secondly, the authors wanted to evaluate the use of an alternative therapeutic intervention (relaxation therapy) to reduce aggression and other behavioral problems.

In a previous study by Braud and Powell (1997), the authors evaluated 70 abused males. Eighty-seven percent of the participants had one or more learning disability. Reading remediation was given to a group (N=10) of reading disabled males resulting in a significant improvement in reading accuracy (+4 years 4 months) and reading comprehension (+5 years, 6 months) after 6-9 months of remediation. Visual-perceptual motor remediation was also provided to a group (N=10) of males with severe visual motor problems. These remediated participants made 5 years progress in visual motor skills after 6-9 months of remediation.

Both remediated groups made statistically significant progress as compared to controls. In addition, the authors wanted to assess the behavioral and emotional improvement of the abused males who were still at the facility (N=34) the next year. These youngsters had been in group and individual therapy for a year. Their pretest and posttest scores on 21 emotional and behavioral measures were compared. However, anxiety was the only measure that showed significant improvement (Appendix A&B). Braud and Powell (1997) also found a high percentage (77%) of males with ADD in the total sample (N=70). Braud (1976) had previously used relaxation therapy to improve the behavior of hyperactive youngsters. Therefore, relaxation therapy appeared promising and was used in the following study.

The total sample included 65 males residing at one of the three Sheltering Harbour facilities in Harris County, Texas. The sample included 31 African Americans, 21 Caucasians, and 13 Hispanic males. Thirty-eight (38) of these youngsters were CPS residents while 27 were JP residents.  The boys ranged in age from 11.0 to 17.4 (M=14.58).  

Four tests were administered to measure the emotional and behavioral characteristics and to assess the effectiveness of the therapeutic intervention. Pre- and post-test measures were collected. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is a 113 item Likert-type 3 point scale from "not true" to "very true" or "often true".  The CBCL measures a broad range of behavioral and emotional problems. The CBCL was filled out by a counselor or one of the therapists at the appropriate facility.

The Modified Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (MCMAS) was administered to each participant.

Items were read to children with poor reading skills. The 74 item self-report scale included the original 53 items from the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Castaneda, McCandless, &Palermo, 1956) as well as additional items from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Hathaway and McKinley, 1983) and additional items developed by the senior author to assess the presence of phobias and depression. Items on the instrument were divided into eight scales: anxiety, somatic signs of anxiety, oversensitivity, fears/phobias, depression, concentration problems, thought disorder, and a lie scale. The number of items answered on each scale was divided by the total number of items on that scale to determine a percentage score. The items that comprise the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1994) were also scored to compare the children's scores to normative data.  

Additional research results

Additional Research results on the Children of Katrina

Click here to view research studies done using Old Me, New Me.