Cognitive behavioral program on aggression and self-concept among institutionalized children with conduct disorder.

PURPOSE: To explore the effect of cognitive-behavioral programs on aggression and self-concept among institutionalized children with conduct disorder. A quiz-experimental design was employed in this study.

BACKGROUND

Conduct Disorder (CD) is defined as repetitive and persistent behavior that violates the rules of society and social norms. It is also characterized by aggressive behaviors toward people or animals, dishonesty or theft, destruction of property, or serious violation of rules, and persists in children or adolescents in the past 12 months before age 18.

METHOD: This research was carried out at the Dammam Observation Center in Saudi Arabia and the Cairo Caring Center in Egypt. Approximately 100 institutionalized children with conduct disorder who had evidence of conduct disorder were included in the study as part of a purposive sampling procedure. The information was gathered through the use of three different tools: Aggressive behavior and self-concept scales, as well as a sociodemographic data sheet.

RESULTS

According to the findings, children with conduct disorder exhibited less aggression after participating in cognitive behavioral sessions (p = .011), resulting in lower mean aggression scores for the intervention group than the control group. After the training, about 64% of them had a moderate level of self-concept, whereas 44% of them had a moderate level of self-concept before the program. The study also revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between aggressive behavior and self-concept.

CONCLUSION

The post-intervention remediation of aggressive behaviors and self-concept improvement point to the positive effect of the cognitive-behavioral program. The current study recommended that a cognitive-behavioral program is an effective, low-cost, and noninvasive intervention to improve self-concept and minimize aggressive behavior among institutionalized children with conduct disorder.