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Child / Adolescent - Externalizing

(PS4-B27) Testing the Impact of Social Acceptance on Outcomes: Comparing Two Forms of an Intervention for Aggressive Youth

Friday, November 17, 2023
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7
Coping Power (CP) is an empirically supported school-based intervention for children at risk for aggression and associated problems. Recent studies have tested individual- and program-level factors that may enhance or hinder meaningful CP outcomes. For instance, some factors, such as inhibitory control and genetic factors, have supported administering CP in an individual format (ICP) instead of group format (GCP). However, other factors, such as children with high respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) appear to have a larger reduction in parent-reported reactive aggression in the GCP group. Peer acceptance, as well as concordance between one’s actual and perceived acceptance, may impact outcomes depending on intervention format. Further, functional subtypes of aggression (i.e., reactive, proactive) have differential relationships with peer acceptance. This study thus aimed to test whether effects of two intervention formats (group and individual) on aggression outcomes (total, proactive, reactive) differed based on the agreement and/or discordance between their actual peer acceptance and self-perceived acceptance. To address these questions, secondary data analyses were conducted from a large-scale study that included a diverse sample of N=360 children (M = 9.74, SD = 0.62 years; 75.8% Black) with elevated levels of aggression and were randomly assigned to ICP or GCP. Results showed that those who underestimated their peer acceptance relative to actual acceptance performed better in the group format at follow-up when controlling for post-intervention aggression, whereas those who had low actual acceptance and accurately perceived their peer acceptance as low performed better in the individual format, especially regarding proactive aggression outcomes. These findings offer important insight into the impact of social acceptance on CP outcomes for different functional subtypes of aggression under distinct intervention formats. Further, the results provide evidence that gathering pre-intervention information on an individual’s perceived an actual acceptance may help facilitate in choosing the most effective intervention format for the child’s needs, thus assisting in better treatment outcomes and overall well-being. This study fits the Convention theme by identifying ways to tailor interventions to reduce a disease burden disproportionately experienced by minoritized children.