Predicting Pathways to Aggression in Youth with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder

Authors

• SC Perlstein
• E Cardinale
• N Gancz
• L Wakschlag
• MJ Briggs-Gowan
• K Towbin
• DS Pine
• MA Brotman
• E Leibenluft

Abstract

Clinical levels of irritability commonly occur within childhood disruptive disorders; however, little is known regarding the role of irritable mood in the emergence of aggressive behavior characteristic of these disorders. The present study investigates how symptoms characteristic of disruptive disorders predict aggressive behaviors across a transdiagnostic sample of youth with varying levels of irritability and specifically within a sample with clinically significant irritability, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD). 214 youth (124=DMDD, 50=ADHD, 40=HC, Mage= 13.19, SD= 2.5, 44.4% female), were assessed dimensionally for symptoms of irritability, impulsivity, non-compliance, low concern for others (LC), and aggression using previously validated self- and parent-reported measures. Results of partial correlational analyses controlling for age, IQ and gender demonstrated increases in aggression towards others was associated with increases in irritability and the other three symptoms of interest (rs 0.25-0.46, ps>/=.001) However, when combined as predictors in a multiple linear regression predicting aggression no significant independent associations emerged among the four symptoms beyond their shared variance. We replicated these analyses restricted to DMDD youths and found significant partial correlations for irritability (r=0.24, p=.01), non-compliance (r=0.33, p

Scientific Focus Area: Social and Behavioral Sciences

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