Family therapy may help boys who bully

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Aggressive teenage boys can be helped through family therapy to rein in some of their anger and improve their relationships with others, according to new study findings.

Among 44 German boys who were self-described bullies, researchers found that those who underwent 6 months of family therapy showed better anger control, as well as improvements in their social skills and general well-being.

The therapy, according to the study authors, focused on family members’ communication, and how their behavior contributed to the boys’ bullying ways.

The success of the treatment suggests that including families is an essential part of treating children’s aggression, according to the researchers. They are now studying whether family therapy is in fact more effective than treating the child alone, said Dr. Marius K. Nickel of Inntalklinik in Simbach am Inn, Germany.

Nickel and his colleagues report the current findings in the journal Pediatrics.

The study included boys between the ages of 14 and 16 who were screened with standard measures of anger and aggression, interpersonal conflicts and health-related quality of life. Besides their self-reported bullying behavior, two-thirds of the boys also had some behavioral disorder, such as conduct disorder or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Half of the boys were randomly assigned to undergo therapy with their families—weekly sessions at first, then every other week. The other half served as a comparison group.

After 6 months of treatment, boys in the family therapy group showed better anger control, and the improvements were generally sustained when the researchers evaluated them again 6 months later.

They also showed improvements in their relationship problems—including tendencies to control other people and harbor grudges, and difficulty with showing affection and trusting others.

Family therapy, Nickel said, can be a “potent” antidote to children’s aggression. However, he noted, it relies on the willingness of a family to address the problem.

“We can get through only to families which are passably intact, I’m afraid,” Nickel said.

Still, he and his colleagues conclude, it seems that whenever possible, family involvement is “essential,” as it helps children take their therapy gains into the real world and may prevent them from returning to their former behavior.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, August 2005. 

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