The Effectiveness of Emotional Regulation Training on Externalized-Internalized Problems in Female Students with Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Considering the difficulties in emotion regulation and behavioral problems in adolescents with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), the aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of emotion regulation training on internalized-externalized problems in female students with IED.

This research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and control group design. A sample of 30 students was selected out of 655 high school students in the city of Rasht. These students were identified with a diagnosis of IED and were then randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the Grass emotion regulation training in eight sessions while the control group watched educational video unrelated to emotion regulation during eight sessions. Both groups completed these questionnaires in two stages of pretest and post-test: Intermittent Explosive Disorder Screening Questionnaire (IED-SQ; Coccaro, Breman & McCloskey, 2017) and Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA: Achenbach & Raskorla, 2003).  The data were analyzed using one-way and multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that the emotion regulation training reduced externalizing and internalizing problems in female adolescents with IED. These findings suggest that this type of training can be used to manage the behaviors and emotions of students with IED.