Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Aggression

Aggressive behavior includes actions and emotions characterized by intense, uncontrollable motivation to inflict physical or mental harm on other persons, the intention to cause harm to one's self, and an overall propensity to strike out aggressively toward persons and situations perceived as threats. For children with ADHD, such a behavior may be less understood and less effectively treated. This article provides an overview of this important and challenging behavioral challenge for clinicians, and suggestions for dealing with it in children and young people with ADHD.

The treatments that have been found to be most effective for treating aggression are antidepressant medication, cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral activation. Some studies indicate that behavioral activation may be as effective as medication. Aggressive behavior as comorbid with anxiety disorder is associated with poor treatment outcome. Future research should examine the feasibility and effectiveness of new treatments for treating aggression.

Considering that patients and their caregivers alike have a number of needs in their lives, therapies that aim to address aggression need to be tailored in order to effectively address the needs of both parties.

Nearly 90 million Americans experience at least one aspect of aggression a year. Aggression is more prevalent among Hispanics than in non-Hispanic whites and black Americans.

Among individuals who are medically stable, an increased frequency of the PIA may be an indication of the presence of aggression that requires further exploration.

In a recent study, findings show that aggression is a result of multiple factors, ranging from a genetic one to ones that are largely internal, thus more related to personality traits. Among the factors associated with aggression are the environment, such as psychological, economic, and cultural factors. One of the factors that are especially important in aggression is a person's personality; it is the main variable that determines the behavior. If there is a high level of aggressiveness from a person that has a hard time in a society, there will be an increase in aggression. In the future, studies and new tools that assess personality are needed to determine the causes and prediction of aggressive behavior in the same manner that is now done with psychological traits.

Data from a recent study suggest that MCBT can reduce both physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety and depression that would likely benefit people at all clinical levels of distress, and thus that the use of MCBT might be a useful treatment for anxiety and depression in general, particularly because it is more accessible, free of adverse pharmacodynamic effects and has a potentially broad therapeutic indication.

In this first prospective study of MBSR in Australia, one in every 40 participants experienced acute adverse events that were not associated with either MBSR therapy or baseline characteristics of the participants. Serious adverse events were reported only rarely. MBSR was acceptable to participants and therapists, and the intervention appears to be safe.

MBSR is an effective method that has positive effects on mental health and quality of life in the short term for those with aggressive behaviours, independent of symptoms of psychopathology. In a recent study, findings have implications for interventions to address the association between mental disorders and quality of life.

It is possible for clinicians to make clinical decisions about participation in the first Phase II trial they read about. Inadequate consideration and referral to trials may lead to poor outcomes in patients. Thus, all patients and families should be informed that clinical studies are available for aggressive treatment.

In a recent study, findings provide empirical support for aggression arising from a complex set of factors including early life trauma; stress, anxiety, and depression; coping; substance abuse; marital conflict; and adverse experiences in the community or prison. Aggressive behaviors have been studied in relation to personality style, temperament, and the four dimensions of personality personality disorder, as well as in relation to specific types of childhood adversity, but not consistently, and often with very limited numbers. In a recent study, findings show that there is no single personality or temperament profile associated with aggressiveness. They suggest a possible distinction of two broad types of interpersonal aggression. One is characterised by a primary or main motive of punishment-driven aggression, the other by a motive of punishment-driven aggression, and interpersonal conflict.