TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Omega-3 (ω-3) and social skills interventions for reactive aggression and childhood externalizing behavior problems: a randomized, stratified, double-blind, placebo-controlled, factorial trial
JO  - Psychological medicine
A1  - Raine, Adrian
A1  - Ang, Rebecca P.
A1  - Choy, Olivia
A1  - Hibbeln, Joseph R.
A1  - Ho, Ringo M-H
A1  - Lim, Choon Guan
A1  - Lim-Ashworth, Nikki S. J.
A1  - Ling, Shichun
A1  - Liu, Jean C. J.
A1  - Ooi, Yoon Phaik
A1  - Tan, Yi Ren
A1  - Fung, Daniel S. S.
SP  - 335
EP  - 344
VL  - 49
IS  - 2
N2  - BACKGROUND: While studies suggest that nutritional supplementation may reduce aggressive behavior in children, few have examined their effects on specific forms of aggression. This study tests the primary hypothesis that omega-3 (ω-3), both alone and in conjunction with social skills training, will have particular post-treatment efficacy for reducing childhood reactive aggression relative to baseline. <br><br>METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind, stratified, placebo-controlled, factorial trial, a clinical sample of 282 children with externalizing behavior aged 7-16 years was randomized into ω-3 only, social skills only, ω-3 + social skills, and placebo control groups. Treatment duration was 6 months. The primary outcome measure was reactive aggression collected at 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, with antisocial behavior as a secondary outcome. <br><br>RESULTS: Children in the ω-3-only group showed a short-term reduction (at 3 and 6 months) in self-report reactive aggression, and also a short-term reduction in overall antisocial behavior. Sensitivity analyses and a robustness check replicated significant interaction effects. Effect sizes (d) were small, ranging from 0.17 to 0.31. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide some initial support for the efficacy of ω-3 in reducing reactive aggression over and above standard care (medication and parent training), but yield only preliminary and limited support for the efficacy of ω-3 in reducing overall externalizing behavior in children. Future studies could test further whether ω-3 shows promise in reducing more reactive, impulsive forms of aggression.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0033-2917
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291718000983
ID  - ref1
ER  -