Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Copyright 1984 by the

1984, Vol. 52, No. 5, 915-916 American Psychological Association, Inc.

Treatment and Generalization Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral

and Goal-Setting Interventions With Aggressive Boys
John E. Lochman Peter R. Burch
Duke University Medical Center Children's Psychiatric Institute
Umstead State Hospital
John F. Curry Louise B. Lampron
Duke University Medical Center Dorothea Dix State Hospital

Seventy-six aggressive boys were assigned to one of four cells consisting of anger
coping, goal setting, anger coping plus goal setting, and a no treatment cell. The
anger-coping intervention groups were school-based secondary prevention efforts
that utilized social problem-solving and cognitive-behavioral techniques. At the
1 -month follow-up testing, the boys who had been in the anger-coping groups had
reduced their disruptive and aggressive behavior in the classroom, had decreased
their aggression at home, and displayed a nonsignificant tendency for improved
perceptions of self-esteem. Other measures were not significantly affected by the
intervention.

Within a cognitive-behavioral framework, ag-
gression can be conceptualized as a behavioral
reaction due in part to distorted and inadequate
cognitive processing of perceived provocations and
frustrations. Because the short-term efficacy of
cognitive-behavioral interventions with aggressive
children has begun to be demonstrated, more
emphasis can focus on generalization issues ad-
dressing the broadness of the intervention effects,
and the comparative strength of treatment com-
ponents (Forman, 1980; Hobbs, Moguin, Tyroler,
& Lahey, 1980).
The present study used a 2 X 2 factorial design
to compare the separate and combined effects of
a cognitive-behavioral condition (Lochman, Nel-
son, & Sims, 1981), and a less intensive goal-
setting condition. The four experimental cells were
anger coping (AC), goal setting (OS), anger coping
plus goal setting (ACGS), and an untreated control
(uc) cell.
Method
The 76 boys in this study attended eight ele-
mentary schools and ranged in age from 9 to 12
years old. Fifty-three percent of the subjects were
black, and the others were white. The subjects had
Acknowledgment is made of the support provided by
the Durham County School System, the Duke University
Medical Center Department of Psychiatry, and the Dur-
ham Community Guidance Clinic.
Requests for reprints should be sent to John E. Loch-
man, Box 2906, Duke University Medical Center, Dur-
ham, North Carolina 27710.
the highest teacher ratings of aggression on the
Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist and were
assigned to the experimental cells on a rotating
basis. Teachers were more aware of the specific
differences between conditions than were parents.
The anger-coping groups in the AC and ACGS cells
met weekly for 12 sessions and focused on increas-
ing boys' social problem-solving skills, as a sec-
ondary prevention intervention. In the 8-week
goal-setting treatment, which was a minimal treat-
ment intervention, children's weekly goals were
established in a group, the goals were monitored
daily by the classroom teacher, and the boys
received contingent reinforcement if appropriate
goal attainment occurred.
Measures were administered prior to the inter-
vention and were readministered at an average of
4 to 6 weeks following the intervention. The
measures included (a) the Passive Off-Task and
the combined Disruptive-Aggressive Off-Task Cat-
egories of the Behavior Observation Schedule for
Pupils and Teachers (BOSPT; Allen, Chinsky, Lar-
cen, Lochman, & Selinger, 1976), (b) the Aggression
subscale of the Missouri Children's Behavior
Checklist (MCBC) completed by parents and teach-
ers (Sines, Pauker, Sines, & Owen, 1969), (c) the
number of alternatives on the Problem Solving
Measures (PSM; Allen et al., 1976), (d) the Coop-
ersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (csi; Allen et al.,
1976), and (e) the boys' social acceptance scores
and peer aggression nominations derived from
classmates' sociometric ratings (Allen et al., 1976).
Interscorer agreement for the BOSPT and the PSM
was 92% and 83%, respectively. Some of the subjects
did not have both pretest and follow-up scores for
four of the measures.

915
916 BRIEF REPORTS

Results passive off-task behaviors. The addition of the

goal-setting procedure tended to augment the
Repeated measures analyses of variance were treatment effects in the classroom. As suggested
used with the four dependent variables that did by Forman (1980), treatment components that
not have differences between cells in their pretest emphasize external monitoring and reinforcement
scores. The F score of primary interest was the of behavior in applied classroom settings do appear
Anger Coping X Time interaction effect. The sig- to be useful adjunctive procedures in cognitive-
nificant Anger Coping X Time effects indicate that behavioral interventions.
the children in the anger-coping cells (AC and The anger-coping condition produced generalized
ACGS) displayed significantly more improvement effects that radiated beyond the classroom behavior
over time on the BOSPT Disruptive and Aggressive into the boys' behavior in their home settings.
Off-Task Percentage, F(l, 72) = 5.37, p < .03, and These treated boys also tended to experience more
on the parents' MCBC Aggression scale, F(l, 68) = generalized improvements in their subjective feel-
6.42, p < .02, than did subjects who were not in ings of self-esteem. Despite these indications of
the anger-coping cells. Post hoc cell contrasts on the breadth and strength of the intervention, sig-
change scores found that the anger-coping-plus- nificant changes were not evident in teachers' and
goal-setting subjects significantly reduced their peers' perceptions of the treated boys. This pattern
BOSPT Disruptive and Aggressive Off-Task per- of mixed findings is similar to the results of
centage scores in comparison to subjects in the previous research on cognitive-behavioral and so-
untreated control cell, t(37) = 2.81, p < .01. In cial-skill interventions with children (e.g., Hobbs
comparison to the subjects in the goal-setting cell, et al., 1980), and can be due to limited treatment
the ACGS subjects had reduced their Disruptive effects and to rigid perceptions of the boys' repu-
and Aggressive Off-Task behavior, f(38) = 2.32, tation. Further refinement of this intervention may
p < .05, and MCBC Aggression ratings by their produce stronger social validity and significant
parents, t(35) = 2.24, p < .05, and the AC subjects effects for a larger percentage of children who are
had reduced their parents' MCBC Aggression ratings, treated. To assist in the formative evaluations of
t(35) = 2.45, p < .05. None of the other cell con- these groups, studies can begin to identify which
trasts on the two measures were significant. subject variables and treatment process variables
The anger-coping condition (AC and ACGS) also are related to the level of improvement demon-
had a strong tendency to increase the subjects' csi strated by children.
scores, F(\, 72) = 3.77, p < .06. To further inves-
tigate this trend, the four subscales were examined.
References
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The children in the anger-coping intervention ical Psychology, 33, 728-734.
groups displayed significant reductions in disruptive
and aggressive off-task behaviors at the follow-up Received September 13, 1983
observation, but there were no improvements in Revision received March 1, 1984 •