Evaluation of Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children

NCT03594253 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2016-6595
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The main objective of this project is to conduct a study of RFP-C for children with disruptive behaviors. Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C) is a twice a week, play therapy intervention.

Conditions

Oppositional Defiant Disorder; Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Children

Keywords

oppositional defiant disorder; regulation focused psychotherapy for children; emotion regulation; psychodynamic psychotherapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Oppositional Defiant Disorder Rating Scale

  symptom inventory based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) 5 - parent report Total possible score ranges from 0 - 24 with 0 representing no oppositional defiant disorder symptoms and 24 representing the most intense and frequent degree of oppositional defiant symptoms

  Pre and post treatment (prior to randomization, after 10 week wait list period if appropriate, and again after completion of 10 week treatment)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Emotion Regulation Checklist

  Pre and post treatment (prior to randomization, after 10 week wait list period if appropriate, and again after completion of 10 week treatment)

• Emotional Regulation Questionnaire - Child & Adolescent

  Pre and post treatment (prior to randomization, after 10 week wait list period if appropriate, and again after completion of 10 week treatment)

• Child Behavior Checklist

  Pre and post treatment (prior to randomization, after 10 week wait list period if appropriate, and again after completion of 10 week treatment)

Study Arms (2)

RFP-C

EXPERIMENTAL

Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C; Hoffman \& Rice with Prout, 2015) is a novel, manualized, time-limited psychodynamic treatment approach for children who manifest disruptive behaviors and emotional dysregulation. Throughout the 16 sessions of play therapy and four parent meetings, the clinician works with the parents and the child to increase understanding that all behavior, even disruptive behavior, has meaning in the service of emotional and behavioral regulation. This insight leads to a decreased need and reliance to act on the distressing emotions (e.g. less need for disruptive behaviors) and an increased ability to tolerate, work through, and talk about the feelings that previously needed to be warded off.

Behavioral: Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children

Wait List control

NO INTERVENTION

Participants assigned to this condition will receive no intervention. They may continue on current medication regimens (no major changes) but may not be enrolled in psychological treatments. They will be evaluated weekly via phone call with primary caregiver. At the conclusion of this 10-week wait list period all participants assigned to this condition will receive RFP-C treatment.

Interventions

Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children BEHAVIORAL

RFP-C is a manualized, psychodynamic psychotherapy that last 10 weeks. Children meet individually with a therapist for play therapy (twice a week for 16 sessions) and parents meet with the therapist for four full sessions (without the child).

Also known as: RFP-C

RFP-C

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 5 Years - 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Experiencing symptoms of ODD
• Fluent in English
• Not diagnosed with severe autism spectrum disorder
• Able to attend therapy twice a week for 10 weeks in the Bronx
• No concurrent therapy services (psychosocial groups and Individualized Education Plan supports are acceptable)

You may not qualify if:

• Active Administration for Children's Services (ACS)/Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement
• Severe autism spectrum disorder

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yeshiva University: lead
• The FAR Fund: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology - Yeshiva University

The Bronx, New York, 10461, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Prout TA, Rice T, Chung H, Gorokhovsky Y, Murphy S, Hoffman L. Randomized controlled trial of Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for children: A manualized psychodynamic treatment for externalizing behaviors. Psychother Res. 2022 Jun;32(5):555-570. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2021.1980626. Epub 2021 Sep 28.

  PMID: 34583626 DERIVED

Related Links

• Study Website

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Oppositional Defiant Disorder; Emotional Regulation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Self-Control; Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Tracy A. Prout, PhD

  Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Model Details: Regulation Focused Psychotherapy for Children (RFP-C; Hoffman \& Rice with Prout, 2015) is a novel, manualized, time-limited psychodynamic treatment approach for children who manifest disruptive behaviors and emotional dysregulation. RFP-C conceptualizes children's externalizing behaviors as expressions of maladaptive defenses or impaired emotion regulation (ER). The child's behaviors are understood as products of developmental delays in implicit ER (Rice \& Hoffman, 2014). Externalizing behaviors are conceptualized both as biologically-driven products and as functional attempts to defend against painful emotions by protecting the child from disturbing feelings such as sadness, shame, and guilt. This 16-session (plus four parent sessions) psychotherapy method iteratively addressing a child's disruptive behaviors as strategies to avoid painful affect. RFP-C is hypothesized to address developmental immaturity of the implicit ER system.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 23, 2018
• First Posted: July 20, 2018
• Study Start: January 1, 2017
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2020
• Study Completion: June 30, 2020
• Last Updated: January 30, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-01

Locations

US (1)