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A comparison of skill‐building and desensitization strategies for intervention with aggressive children
Author(s) -
Schneider Barry H.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/1098-2337(1991)17:6<301::aid-ab2480170602>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - aggression , desensitization (medicine) , psychology , social skills , psychological intervention , poison control , intervention (counseling) , observational study , developmental psychology , cognition , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , cognitive skill , suicide prevention , clinical psychology , medicine , medical emergency , psychiatry , receptor , pathology
Social skills training and desensitization interventions were conducted with 41 institutionalized aggressive children aged 7–13. Subjects were randomly assigned after blocking by aggression and cooperative play to either of the treatments. Dependent measures were direct observations of playground play and teacher ratings. Subjects in the social skills program mastered the basic cognitive skills presented to them. Observational data indicated that both groups experienced marked reduction in aggressive behavior and increases in cooperative play. The social skills training intervention engendered incremental improvement in aggression in comparison to the desensitization condition. However, none of the behavioral changes evident in the observations were reflected in teacher ratings.