Conduct disorder in adolescents is exceptionally complex to identify and treat efficiently. Most adolescents have deprived social backgrounds, numerous stressors, and usually widespread histories of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse and negligence. Although previous research studies have been identified as an effective method for treating adolescents conduct disorder, other methods are also applicable. Mode Deactivation Therapy (MDT) has also been regarded as an effective method for treating adolescent conduct disorder (Apsche et al., 2005). This study aims to compare the efficiency of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and MDT for treating adolescent conduct disorder.
A total of fifty adolescents will be chosen to participate in the study. All participants will be sent to one domestic treatment location. Treatment will be focused on sexual and physical aggression. Each participant will be exposed to either the CBT or MDT treatment. To achieve a consistent provision of the different therapeutic methods selected for the study, therapists will precisely be proficient in any of the proposed therapeutic methods. It will take approximately twelve months to complete the therapeutic process.
There are ethical issues that may arise, specifically in the area of information disclosure (Bordens & Abbott, 2014). All participants will be provided with an informed consent form, which would specify the confidentiality of the research procedures. Participants will be required to endorse these forms as an indication of their willingness to participate in the study and their understanding of the research purpose.
The participants’ sexual and physical aggressiveness will be observed and compiled using journals. Observations will be noted after participants exhibit severe aggressive behaviors. The Daily Behavior Journal was filled by both therapists and assistants across the various scenes of the therapeutical process (e.g., residential hostels, classrooms, psycho-educational lessons, therapeutic activities, etc.).
Inter-rater validity in the application of the selected measures will be verified by individually summing the amount of sexual and physical aggression occurrences on both the Daily Behavior Journals and the Behavior Episode Journals and computing the proportion of conformity. A conformity level that is higher than 90% will indicate that the research measures are valid.
The reference (“pre-therapeutic”) measure of sexual and physical aggression will be identified from the average amount of occurrences weekly within the first two months after admittance, and the post-treatment measure will be identified by computing the rate of occurrence in the last 60 days preceding discharge. Two measures will be applied to evaluate the behavior of the participants, which will include Devereux Scales of Mental Disorders (DSMD) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991).
The DSMD will be used to determine the level of participant functionality in contrast to a control group, through behavioral scorers. The T scores will be used to determine the presence of any clinical concerns. The average mean deviation for T scores is 10. A mean deviation of 60 will indicate clinical concerns (Apsche, Bass, Jennings, & Siv, 2005).The CBCL, on the other hand, is a multi-axial computational tool developed to derive reports about the competencies and behaviors of adolescents. The mean scores will focus on measuring internalized, externalized, and general participant behaviors.
References
Achenbach, T.M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
Apsche, J. A., Bass, C. K., Jennings, J. L., & Siv, A. M. (2005). A review and empirical comparison of two treatments for adolescent males with conduct and personality disorder: Mode Deactivation Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 1(1), 27-45.
Bordens, K. S., & Abbott, B. B. (2014). Research design and methods: A process approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.