Cognitive and Behavioral Treatment of Impulsivity in Children: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Outcome Literature

Abstract

Reviewed 36 outcome studies that used cognitive and/or behavioral treatment to reduce impulsivity in children. Treatments included self-statement modification, reinforcement contingencies, modeling, strategy training, problem-solving training, and numerous treatment combinations. Subjects were all described as impulsive but varied in clinical diagnosis, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, behavior disorder, and learning disability. Other subjects were labeled as non-self-controlled, or behavior problem. Meta-analytic techniques showed that interventions for impulsivity were associated with improvements of approximately one third to three quarters of a standard deviation relative to untreated control subjects. Treated subjects fell close to normative group means both before and after treatment.