A characteristic destabilization profile in parent-child interactions associated with treatment efficacy for aggressive children.
This study examined profiles of change in repeated mother-child interactions over  the course of a 12 week treatment period for childhood aggression. The aim of this study was  to investigate whether it was possible to detect the characteristic profile of change, typical  for phase transitions, over the course of treatment, and whether this profile was associated with  positive treatment outcomes. Entropy values were computed for six repeated real-time observations  of each mother-child dyad, using a novel application of recurrence quantification analysis for  categorical time series. Subsequent latent class growth curve analysis on the sequences of entropy  values revealed two distinct classes of dyads, with one class showing a clear peak in entropy over  the six measurement points. The latent class membership variables showed a significant systematic  relationship with observed dyad improvement (as rated by clinicians). The class with the peak in  entropy over the sessions consisted largely of treatment improvers. Further analysis revealed that  improvers and non-improvers could not be distinguished based on content-specific changes (e.g. more  positivity or less negativity during the interaction). The present study revealed a treatment-related  destabilization pattern in real-time behaviors that was related to better treatment outcomes,  and underlines the value of dynamic nonlinear time-series analysis (especially RQA) in the study  of dyadic interactions in clinical contexts.
University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. A.LichtwarckAschoff@pwo.ru.nl
Anna
A
Lichtwarck-Aschoff
Fred
F
Hasselman
Ralf
R
Cox
Debra
D
Pepler
Isabela
I
Granic
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome