ADOPT-Epidemiology

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The Consortium ADOPT

The study Assessment and Epidemiology of Affective Dysregulation (ADOPT-Epidemiology) is led by Prof. Dr. Ravens-Sieberer and conducted by the research unit Child Public Health at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The study is part of the Consortium ADOPT (Affective Dysregulation in Childhood – Optimizing Prevention and Treatment), which is coordinated by the University Hospital Cologne and is conducted in cooperation with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, the TU Dresden, the University Medical Center Ulm, and the Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) over a period of four years.

What is Affective Dysregulation?

Affective dysregulation describes a symptomatology in children and adolescents characterized by persistent irritability, severe and sudden temper outbursts, and mood changes. Currently, there are no appropriate screening tools that assess the symptoms of affective dysregulation in a precise way. Moreover, it is still unknown how many children and adolescents are affected by affective dysregulation in Germany and what role psychosocial risk- and protective factors may play in its symptomatology. In addition, possible treatment options and ways in which parents of affected children may be best supported have not been sufficiently studied at this point. This type of knowledge is, however, necessary to improve the condition of children with affective dysregulation and their families.

Aim of the Project

The main purpose of the ADOPT Consortium is to optimize the prevention and treatment for children with affective dysregulation.

Project Procedure

The national research collaboration is comprised of five complementary sub-projects. The sub-project ADOPT-Epidemiology is conducted by the research unit Child Public Health at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The research group is responsible for the development of a screening tool for the assessment of affective dysregulation in children. The screening tool will then be administered in a German population-based sample of families with children between the ages of 8 and 12, in order to screen children for affective dysregulation. Subsequently, children who meet the criteria for affective dysregulation, as well as randomly selected non-affected children (for comparison), will be further assessed and receive support offers. Parents will be offered an online-intervention in form of a stepwise treatment approach and children will be offered a modular treatment program. The sub-project will further oversee the data collection of the other ADOPT sub-projects and will perform additional analyses of longitudinal and cross-sectional data regarding co-morbidities, psychosocial risk and protective factors, and the well-being of children with affective dysregulation.

More information www.adopt-studie.de

Contact: Dr. Anne Kaman ( a.kaman@uke.de )