Symposia
Assessment
Emily Hirsch, M.A.
Fordham University
New York, New York
Tasmia Alam, BA
Master's Student
San Diego State University
San Diego, California
Katherine Bevans, PhD
Associate Director, Patient Reported Outcomes
Janssen Global Services LLC
Horsham, Pennsylvania
Amy Roy, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Fordham University
Bronx, New York
Jillian L. Wiggins, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
San Diego State University
San Diego, California
Lauren S. Wakschlag, PhD
Vice Chair for Scientific & Faculty Development
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois
Background: Irritability, expressed as dysregulated outbursts and angry mood, is a robust transdiagnostic indicator of psychopathology. The Multidimensional Assessment Profile of Disruptive Behavior Temper Loss Scale (MAP-DB-TL) was designed to characterize the dimensional spectrum of irritability within developmental context including determination of features that best differentiate normative misbehaviors from markers of atypicality. Its developmental specification has been modeled at preschool age but the added value of this approach for early school age hasn’t been examined. The present study used a novel developmentally specific version of the MAP-DB-TL for early school-age children (MAP-DB-TL-ESA) to: 1) describe common manifestations of irritability in this age group, and 2) conduct item response theory analyses to scale early school-age irritability along a spectrum of severity.
Methods: For developmental continuity, the MAP-DB-TL-ESA includes 22 shared items that are consistent across age groups and an additional 16 items conceptualized as important developmental features of irritability at school age, an approach designed to facilitate consistency for longitudinal examinations and developmental specificity. Data were obtained from the early school-age cohort (474 ethnically, racially and socioeconomically diverse children; ages 6–8) of the Multidimensional Assessment of Preschoolers Study, which was oversampled for psychopathology and environmental risk. Data were scaled to the existing MAP-DB scoring metric using fixed anchor item calibration and fitted to a graded response model.
Results: About one third (35.65%) of parents indicated that their child had a tantrum in the past month. The most common behaviors endorsed on some or most days were “Frustrated easily” (28.48%) and “Yell angrily at someone” (25.21%). The item with the lowest average severity was “Tantrum when frustrated, angry, or upset” and the one with the highest severity was “Act angry all day long.” Nine out of the 10 most severe items were specific to the ESA version of the MAP-DB.
Conclusion: Data on the developmental expression of irritability provide information about what’s normative in this age group. Findings confirm the importance of a developmentally specified model. In particular, data on the severity of items demonstrates that the addition of developmentally appropriate items to the MAP-DB allows us to better capture severe levels of irritability in early school-age children. Limitations and future directions will be discussed.