Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: II. Intervention.

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research by Guerra and Slaby was to examine the role of changes in cognitive mediators in influencing changes in antisocial behavior. The study was based in the social-cognitive development model of behavior, which claims that a social behavior pattern is influenced by the individual's cognitive resources. METHODOLOGY: The researchers employed an experimental design, with a non-probability sample of 120 male and female adolescents who were incarcerated in a state juvenile correctional facility for committing one or more of the following acts: assault and battery, robbery, rape, attempted murder and murder. Subjects were selected on the basis of their willingness to participate in an intervention program, and had to be between the ages of 15 and 18, with a reading level of grade 6 or higher, normal intellectual functioning, a parole date of not less than 6 months away and an offense record that included antisocial aggression. 165 individuals participated in the pre-test session, and were then randomly assigned to one of three groups: a group receiving cognitive mediation training, one undergoing attention control, and a control group with no treatment. Due to attrition over the 12 weeks of the intervention program, 126 of the original 165 completed the intervention and the post-test. In order to maintain equal group size, 6 of the subjects were eliminated at random, leaving groups of 20 males and 20 females in each of the three study groups. Data were collected for four measures: social cognition, behavior ratings, self-report of intervention effects and recidivism. Measures of social cognition and behavior ratings were collected both two weeks before and two weeks after the intervention, the self-report measure was collected at post-test only, and the data on recidivism were collected for up to 24 months after release from the facility. Measures of social cognition included two components: social problem-solving skills and beliefs. The first was measured using hypothetical stories and an examination of seven dependent variables: problem definition and goal selection, both hostile versus non-hostile, number of facts requested, number of solutions offered, effectiveness of best and second best solution and number of consequences generated. Beliefs supporting aggression were measured via use of an 18-item questionnaire, and involved five belief structures: aggression as legitimate, aggression as increasing self-esteem, aggression as helping to avoid a negative image, victims of aggression has deserving it, and victims of aggression not suffering. The Behavior Rating Scale was developed for measuring behavioral patterns, and was based upon the Devereaux Adolescent Behavior Rating Scale. 18 items were based upon a five-point frequency scale, with six item being rated in each of three categories: aggressive behavior (pushing or hitting), impulsive behavior (not thinking before acting) and inflexible behavior (narrow-mindedness when solving problems). Each of the three categories had high alpha reliability. Self-reports of training effects consisted of six items about usefulness of information, recommendation of course to others, wishes of having taken the course before, being better able to solve problems without fighting, getting along better with others, and applying what was learned to staying out of trouble in the future. Data about recidivism were collected from the state correctional facility for between 12 and 24 months after the subject was released. Data were available for 81 of the 120 subjects, with recidivism being defined as a revocation of parole and return to a correctional institution due to unsatisfactory behavior, or as a conviction resulting in probation or confinement as an adult. Cognitive mediation training was designed to remediate social problem-solving skills deficits and to modify beliefs supporting aggression, via use of instruction and structured discussion. The attention control group was designed to control the amount and type of professional attention and of group participation that was available to the subjects, whilst avoiding exercises in social problem solving, evaluation of beliefs and control of impulses. Instead, subjects participated in basic skills training, such as math and reading, and learned to apply these skills to prepare for possible future careers. The no treatment control group participated only in the pre-tests and in the post-testing. Analyses included t-tests, ANOVA and ANCOVA, and multiple regressions to predict which cognitive components could best predict changes in ratings of aggressive behavior. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Initial analysis revealed that no significant differences were found between the groups on pre-test means. For social problem-solving measures, it was found that the subjects in the cognitive mediation training group showed greater skills than those in the other two groups, with no effect of gender. Subjects who received this training also exhibited less tendency to endorse beliefs supporting aggression, with females endorsing the belief that aggression was necessary to avoid a negative image more than did males. The cognitive training group also showed greater behavioral adjustment in each of the three behavior ratings. Decreases in behavioral aggression from pre-test to post-test were found only for the group that received the cognitive training, and no effects of gender were found. Self-reports of training effectiveness showed that the group that had received the cognitive mediation training reported higher ratings on the effectiveness of the program than did subjects in the attention control group, with no gender effect being found. Subjects in the cognitive training group were somewhat less likely than those in the other two groups to recidivate, although this difference was not significant. Multiple regressions with the 7 social problem-solving and the 5 belief measures entered both separately and together, and controlling for pre-test aggression, found that for the first component, changes in problem definition could significantly predict post-test aggression, and for the second, belief in the legitimacy of aggression acted as the best predictor. When the two components were combined, it was found that change in the belief of the legitimacy of aggression was the only predictor that remained significant. Using stepwise discriminant analyses with the three behavior ratings and the 12 social-cognitive measures, four predictors were found: that aggression is a legitimate response, problem definition, that victims deserve aggression, and goal selection. The authors concluded that the intervention program was successful at increasing social problem-solving skills, reducing endorsement of aggressive beliefs, and decreasing subsequent aggressive, inflexible and impulsive behavior. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors recommended the use of cognitive mediation training to alter the behavior of adolescent offenders, as well as the continued investigation into the effectiveness of such programs to reduce and prevent serious antisocial aggression. They also suggested the need for a supporting environment for released offenders, in order for new social-cognitive skills to take root and endure. They concluded that aggressive behavior, whilst typically stable over time, can be altered by changing the social-cognitive factors that play a central role in the regulation of such behavior. EVALUATION: Despite the relatively small sample size and the clinical nature of the group, this study provides an excellent insight into the effectiveness of cognitive mediation training in altering aggressive behavior patterns. The use of random assignment to treatment and control groups acts as an assurance that internal validity is high; that is, the researchers can be quite confident that any changes that were observed were actually caused by the intervention, and not by some unknown factor. The analyses employed were sophisticated and appropriate to the research questions, and the discussion of the results allowed for the development of a clear understanding of the findings. Whilst a thorough discussion of the findings was presented, an more in-depth examination of the implications of these results for policy, treatment and prevention planning would have been useful. Despite this, the study provides an excellent basis for further research and planning in the treatment and rehabilitation of the juvenile offender. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Social Development KW - Social Cognitive KW - Juvenile Female KW - Juvenile Inmate KW - Juvenile KW - Male KW - Juvenile Aggression KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Incarcerated KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Female Inmate KW - Female Aggression KW - Female Offender KW - Female Violence KW - Male Violence KW - Male Offender KW - Male Inmate KW - Male Aggression KW - Aggression Intervention KW - Violence Intervention KW - Offender Recidivism KW - Recidivism Prevention KW - Prosocial Skills KW - Social Skills Training KW - Aggression Intervention KW - Cognitive Behavioral Intervention KW - Behavior Intervention KW - Juvenile Antisocial Behavior KW - Problem Solving Skills KW - Intervention Program KW - Program Effectiveness KW - Program Evaluation KW - SCSS Favorable Reference