An observational study in Disruptive Behavior Disorders, Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, sponsored by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 8 Years to 13 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) · Observational
Background:
Pediatric disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) are characterized by severe irritability, anger, and temper outbursts. The primary way to treat children with DBDs is parent management training (PMT). PMT teaches parents how to reward desired behaviors and not to reward undesired ones. Researchers want to find out if a smartphone app can help parents apply these skills more effectively.
Objective:
To test a smartphone app to enhance PMT.
Eligibility:
Children aged 8 to 13 years with DBDs. A parent or guardian is also needed.
Design:
Parents will have 12 weekly sessions of PMT. PMT teaches them how to manage their child s mood and behaviors. Parents will learn to actively ignore, praise, set limits, and handle temper outbursts. PMT can be either in person or via video. Sessions last 30 to 60 minutes. They will be video and audio recorded.
Parents will be divided into 2 groups. Only 1 group will download a smartphone app. The app helps parents practice PMT skills. It offers videos, a resource library, and alerts when a child may be at risk for various behaviors.
All parents will be prompted every day to answer questions about their child s mood and their own behavior. These will continue until 12 weeks after their last PMT session.
Children will also answer questions on their phone daily for 1 week at a time. They will do this on 3 different weeks, each about 2 months apart. They will also have check-ins by phone every 2 weeks for up to 6 months.
Parents will have follow-up calls 3, 6, and 12 months after they finish PMT.
Study Description:
This study is a feasibility study (N=60 parent-child dyads) of a digital tool (machine learning and a smartphone application) augmenting parent management training (PMT) to support the reduction of irritability and temper outbursts through changes in parenting behaviors (i.e., active ignoring) for pediatric disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). We examine the feasibility of the study design (i.e., two-arm randomized controlled trial [RCT] of PMT + ecological momentary assessment [EMA] + digital tool vs. PMT + EMA + no digital tool) and examine patterns of change in irritability, outbursts, and parenting behaviors (i.e., active ignoring).
Objectives:
Primary Objective: Determine the feasibility of the design of a clinical trial (i.e., RCT with two parallel arms - PMT + EMA + digital tool compared to PMT + EMA + no digital tool).
Secondary Objective:
Tertiary Objective:
Endpoints:
Primary Endpoint:
Dropout in each arm of the trial (PMT + EMA + digital tool vs. PMT + EMA + no digital tool).
Secondary Endpoint:
Tertiary Endpoint:
60 studies on the registry are indexed under Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders; 7 are open to participants now.
Browse Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders studies →National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead sponsor of 367 studies on the registry; 45 are open to participants now.
Of its 25 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 24 (96%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
This study is for children 8-13 years old with irritability as a primary clinical concern and no more than minimal response to current treatment. At least one parent/guardian must be willing to enroll and have the cognitive ability to consent, and the child must be able to understand and willing to sign a written assent document. The enrolled, consented parent must be willing to attend 12 parent management training sessions and use the study s digital tool. Both parent and child must be fluent in English. Exclusion criteria for children are active major depression or history of psychosis, bipolar I disorder, level 2 or 3 autism spectrum disorder, active severe substance use, active suicidal intent or plan, IQ below 70, or medical or neurological conditions that may interfere with study participation. Exclusion criteria for parents are IQ below 70, medical/mental health conditions that interfere with participation, or current substance or alcohol problems requiring separate treatment.
Inclusion Criteria for Youth:
To be eligible to participate, an individual must be enrolled in the 01-M-0254 protocol. All screening will occur under 01-M-0254 and all inclusion criteria for youth and parent or guardian will be determined under the 01-M-0254 protocol. To be eligible to participate, an individual must meet all the following criteria:
Patients must be fluent in (speaking, reading) English after consenting into protocol 01-M-0254 as determined through clinical judgement.
--This study uses English-language manualized PMT. The PMT intervention materials, digital tool, therapist and rater training and supervision procedures, fidelity ratings, and outcome measures are currently available and validated only in English. Because psychotherapy relies on nuanced verbal exchange, use of translation or interpreters could alter treatment content, affect therapeutic alliance, compromise fidelity, and limit accurate clinical risk assessment. Enrolling non-English speakers can introduce a confound to our research objectives around feasibility, symptom and behavior change, and acceptability and fidelity. Restricting enrollment to English-speaking participants is therefore necessary to ensure participant safety and scientific validity in this trial. Critically, this eligibility criterion is based solely on the language requirements of the intervention and study procedures and is not intended to exclude participants on the basis of race or ethnicity or any other factors.
Inclusion Criteria for Parent or Guardian:
To be eligible to participate, an individual must be enrolled in the 01-M-0254 protocol. All screening will occur under 01-M-0254 and all inclusion criteria for youth and parent or guardian will be determined under the 01-M-0254 protocol. To be eligible to participate, an individual must meet all the following criteria:
EXCLUSION CRITERIA:
Exclusion Criteria for Youth:
All screening will occur under 01-M-0254 and all exclusion criteria for youth and parent or guardian will be determined under the 01-M-0254 protocol. Participants will be screened to exclude participants who would not be able to engage in psychotherapy. All individuals meeting any of the exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from participation.
Exclusion Criteria for Parent or Guardian:
All screening will occur under 01-M-0254 and all exclusion criteria for youth and parent or guardian will be determined under the 01-M-0254 protocol. Participants will be screened to exclude participants who would not be able to engage in psychotherapy. All individuals meeting any of the exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from participation.
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Children/adolescents with irritability
Parents/guardians of children/adolescents with irritability
Behavioral: Psychotherapy
Either parent management training alone or parent management training with a digital tool.
Dropout in each arm of the trial
Differential participant dropout in Group 1 (parent management training + digital tool) compared to Group 2 (parent management training + no digital tool) by parent management training session 12.
Time frame: By parent management training session 12
Clinician Affective Reactivity Index (CL-ARI)
A 12-item clinician-administered measure of temper outbursts, irritable mood, and impairment over the past week, based on parent and child report.
Time frame: Pre-treatment, bi-weekly during treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, follow up (3-, 6-, and 12-months)
Affective Reactivity Index (ARI)
A brief parent- and self-report measure of irritability with 6 core items (score range 0 12) and an additional impairment item not included in the total score.
Time frame: Pre-treatment, weekly during treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment
Brief Irritability Test (BITe)
A 5-item self-report measure assessing irritability over the past two weeks on a 6-point scale.
Time frame: Pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment
Clinical Global Impressions Improvement (CGI-I)
A clinician-rated, diagnosis-independent measure of overall treatment response, assessing change from relative to a baseline on a 7-point scale (1 = very much improved to 7 = very much worse).
Time frame: Pre-treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, follow up (3-, 6-, and 12-months)
Clinical Global Impressions Severity (CGI-S)
A clinician-rated measure of the patient s current level of psychopathology on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Normal, not at all ill) to 7 (Among the most extremely ill patients), providing a single global index of illness severity at the time of assessment.
Time frame: Pre-treatment, bi-weekly during treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, follow up (3-, 6-, and 12-months)
The Children s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS)
A clinician rated, diagnosis nonspecific measure of overall functioning in children and adolescents. It provides a single global rating of the child s psychological, social, and school functioning over a specified time period (usually the current level or past week), based on all available clinical information. Scored on a 100 point continuum divided into 10 point descriptive anchor ranges, with scores ranging from 1 (most impaired functioning) to 100 (superior functioning). Higher scores indicate better overall functioning, while lower scores reflect increasing levels of impairment.
Time frame: Pre-treatment, bi-weekly during treatment, mid-treatment, post-treatment, follow up (3-, 6-, and 12-months)
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of child temper outbursts and irritability
EMA items are parent-report and child-report of child temper outbursts and irritability.
Time frame: In both groups, parents/guardians complete EMA 3x/day from a baseline period through 12 weeks post-treatment (up to 30 weeks) and children complete EMA 3x/day for one week pre-, mid-, and post-treatment (3 weeks total)
Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of parent active ignoring
EMA items are parent-report of parent use of the active ignoring skill.
Time frame: In both groups, parents/guardians complete EMA 3x/day from a baseline period through 12 weeks post-treatment (up to 30 weeks)
Plan to share: Yes — In compliance with current NIH data-sharing policies, de-identified data from participants who have consented to data sharing will be made available in a public repository.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Informed consent form, Analytic code
Time frame: De-identified data from participants who have consented to data sharing will be made available in a public repository at time of publication without an end date.
Access criteria: De-identified data from participants who have consented to data sharing will be made available in a public repository that can be accessed by anyone.
Start is estimated for Nov 2026; primary completion for Dec 2036, 121 months later.
Start moved 32 times since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026: Sep 2026 → Nov 2026, last on Nov 10, 2026.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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