Premium
Individual cognitive‐behavioural anger treatment for people with mild‐borderline intellectual disabilities and histories of aggression: A controlled trial
Author(s) -
Taylor John L.,
Novaco Raymond W.,
Gillmer Bruce T.,
Robertson Alison,
Thorne Ian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1348/014466505x29990
Subject(s) - anger , aggression , psychology , clinical psychology , intellectual disability , cognition , randomized controlled trial , psychiatry , treatment and control groups , medicine , surgery , pathology
Objectives. Anger is a significant predictor and activator of violent behaviour in patients living in institutional settings. There is some evidence for the value of cognitive‐behavioural treatments for anger problems with people with intellectual disabilities. In this study, a newly designed treatment targeted at anger disposition, reactivity, and control was provided to intellectually disabled offenders with aggression histories living in secure settings. Design. About forty detained patients with mild‐borderline intellectual disabilities and histories of serious aggression were allocated to specially modified cognitive‐behavioural anger treatment (AT group) or to routine care waiting‐list control (RC group) conditions. Methods. AT group participants received 18 sessions of individual treatment. The AT and RC groups were assessed simultaneously at 4 time points: screen, pre‐ and post‐treatment, and at 4‐month follow‐up using a range of self‐ and staff‐rated anger measures. The effectiveness of the treatment was evaluated using ANCOVA linear trend analyses of group differences on the main outcome measures. Results. The AT group's self‐reported anger scores on a number of measures were significantly lower following treatment, compared with the RC wait‐list condition, and these improvements were maintained at follow‐up. Limited evidence for the effectiveness of treatment was provided by staffs' ratings of patient behaviour post‐treatment. Conclusions. Detained men with mild‐moderate intellectual disabilities and histories of severe aggression can successfully engage in, and benefit from, an intensive individual cognitive‐behavioural anger treatment that also appears to have beneficial systemic effects.