Screening for affective dysregulation in school-aged children: relationship with comprehensive measures of affective dysregulation and related mental disorders

Treier, Anne-Katrin; Döpfner, Manfred; Ravens‐Sieberer, Ulrike; Görtz-Dorten, Anja; Boecker, Maren; Goldbeck, C; Banaschewski, Tobias; Aggensteiner, P.-M.; Hanisch, Charlotte; Ritschel, Anne; Kölch, Michael; Daunke, A.; Roessner, Veit; Kohls, Gregor; Kaman, Anne

doi:10.1007/s00787-023-02166-z

Cited by 1 publication

(13 citation statements)

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“…Children with affective dysregulation (AD) typically show chronic irritability, severe temper tantrums, and sudden mood swings [ 1 – 3 ]. Emotion recognition and regulation develop from birth through interaction with a sensitive caregiver and lead to primary regulation strategies at the age of seven, which become more self-directed with increasing age [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dysfunctions of emotion recognition and/or emotion regulation are suggested underlying mechanisms of AD, an assumption that is supported by findings of an elevated use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in children with AD [ 5 ]. In contrast to the concept of irritability—which solely comprises the proneness to anger [ 6 ]—AD additionally encompasses emotional reactivity such as anxiety, sadness, or positive emotions (e.g., exuberance; [ 3 ]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, AD symptoms do not only occur in patients with ODD. On the contrary, children and adolescents with AD often show other externalizing disorders, especially attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but also conduct disorder (CD), as well as internalizing disorders, especially depressive and anxiety disorders [ 3 , 8 , 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In summary, we adopt a broader, dimensional, and transdiagnostic concept of AD, and perceive AD as excessive reactivity to emotionally positive or negative stimuli [ 2 , 3 ]. Accordingly, AD comprises a proneness to a variety of emotional reactions, ranging from anger to anxiety or sadness, but also includes positive emotions such as exuberance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, the only comprehensive tool focusing on the broad conceptualization of AD is the German-language Diagnostic Tool for Affective Dysregulation in Children (DADYS; [ 3 , 14 , 29 , 30 ]). The DADYS covers symptoms of irritability, impulsivity, temper outbursts, anger, mood swings, sadness, and exuberance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of affective dysregulation in children: development and evaluation of a semi-structured interview for parents and for children

Treier,

Labarga,

Ginsberg

et al. 2024

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health

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Background Children with affective dysregulation (AD) show an excessive reactivity to emotionally positive or negative stimuli, typically manifesting in chronic irritability, severe temper tantrums, and sudden mood swings. AD shows a large overlap with externalizing and internalizing disorders. Given its transdiagnostic nature, AD cannot be reliably and validly captured only by diagnostic categories such as disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate two semi-structured clinical interviews—one for parents and one for children. Methods Both interviews were developed based on existing measures that capture particular aspects of AD. We analyzed internal consistencies and interrater agreement to evaluate their reliability. Furthermore, we analyzed factor loadings in an exploratory factor analysis, differences in interview scores between children with and without co-occurring internalizing and externalizing disorders, and associations with other measures of AD and of AD-related constructs. The evaluation was performed in a screened community sample of children aged 8–12 years (n = 445). Interrater reliability was additionally analyzed in an outpatient sample of children aged 8–12 years (n = 27). Results Overall, internal consistency was acceptable to good. In both samples, we found moderate to excellent interrater reliability on a dimensional level. Interrater agreement for the dichotomous diagnosis DMDD was substantial to perfect. In the exploratory factor analysis, almost all factor loadings were acceptable. Children with a diagnosis of disruptive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or any disorder (disruptive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and depressive disorder) showed higher scores on the DADYS interviews than children without these disorders. The correlation analyses revealed the strongest associations with other measures of AD and measures of AD-specific functional impairment. Moreover, we found moderate to very large associations with internalizing and externalizing symptoms and moderate to large associations with emotion regulation strategies and health-related quality of life. Conclusions The analyses of internal consistency and interrater agreement support the reliability of both clinical interviews. Furthermore, exploratory factor analysis, discriminant analyses, and correlation analyses support the interviews’ factorial, discriminant, concurrent, convergent, and divergent validity. The interviews might thus contribute to the reliable and valid identification of children with AD and the assessment of treatment responses. Trial registration ADOPT Online: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) DRKS00014963. Registered 27 June 2018.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%