Parent Training for the Treatment of Irritability in Children and Adolescents: a Multisite Randomized Controlled, 3-parallel-group, Evaluator-blinded, Superiority Trial
Irritability is defined as developmentally inappropriate proneness to anger. Irritability is a symptom of several mental health conditions in children and adolescents such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), depressive disorders, anxiety disorders.Irritability has been associated with poor functional outcomes across the lifespan and was found to be specifically associated with concurrent and longitudinal emotional disorders, suicidality and impaired academic and socio-professional functioning. Children with high irritability also have distinct physiological profiles with hyper-reactivity to stress and perceived threats. Despite the high prevalence and health issues related to irritability, there is little treatment research on this topic. Developing evidence-based non-pharmacological treatment options for children suffering from severe, chronic irritability is therefore a particularly important target for clinical research.
• Male and female subject between 6 and 15 years-old.
• Express informed consent f by at least one of the parents or legal representative, and oral consent of the child.
• A confirmed K-SADS DSM-5 diagnosis of ADHD, ODD, CD, mood/anxiety disorder or DMDD, or a clinical diagnosis of IED. The request of a concomitant mental disorder allows to restrict this intervention to a clinical population.
• A Parental-rated ARI total score of 4 or above at baseline.
• A Clinical Global Impression-Severity score (CGI-S) of 4 or above (=at least moderately ill).
• Persistence of irritability symptoms 6 month or above at baseline (this avoids including children with transitory irritability).
• stable treatment regimen (pharmacological and non-pharmacological) for 2 weeks prior to inclusion and during the trial
• RESIST-QUAL : Same inclusion criteria as above with specific informed consent form signed by the participating parent.