Big Feelings: A Study on Children's Emotions in Therapy

This outcome will be measured through the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), a 113-item measure of child psychopathology symptoms that is completed by parents (parent-report). Parents will rate items on a three-point Likert scale from (0 = Never, 1 = Sometimes, 2 = Often) with scores across syndrome scales (anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, somatic complaints, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, rule-breaking behaviour, and aggressive behaviours) and DSM-oriented scales (affective problems, anxiety problems, somatic problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems, oppositional defiant problems, and conduct problems).

This outcome will be measured through the Youth Self Report (YSR) a 112-item measure of child psychopathology symptoms that is completed by children aged 11 - 15 (youth-report). Children will rate items on a three-point Likert scale from (0 = Never, 1 = Sometimes, 2 = Often) with scores across syndrome scales (anxious/depressed, withdrawn/depressed, somatic problems, social problems, thought problems, rule-breaking behaviour, and aggressive behaviours) and DSM-oriented scales (depressive problems, anxiety problems, somatic problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems, oppositional defiant problems, and conduct problems).

This outcome will be measured through the Behavior and Feelings Survey (BFS), a 12-item measure of child psychopathology symptoms to be completed by parents (parent-report) and children (youth-report). Parents and children will rate items on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (Not a problem) to 4 (A very big problem) with greater scores (internalizing subscale range = 0-24; externalizing subscale range = 0-24; total score range = 0-48) indicating more severe psychopathology. The BFS generates Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scores.

This outcome will be measured through the Top Problems Assessment (TPA), a brief, clinical interview that is completed by parents (parent-report) and children (youth-report). Children and parents will identify and describe one to three primary issues, rate the severity of each problem on a scale of 0 (not a problem) to 4 (a very big problem). They will then rank order the problems from 1 (biggest problem) to 3 (least big problem).

This outcome will be measured through the Brief Impairment Scale (BIS), a 23-item measure of child impairment that is completed by one or both parents (parent-report). Parents will rate items on a four-point Likert scale from 0 (No problem) to 3 (A Serious Problem) with greater scores across three domains (interpersonal subscale = 0 - 24, school/work = 0 - 24, self-fulfillment = 0 - 24) indicating more severe impairment.

This outcome will be measured through the Negative Emotionality subscale of the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale (CADS), a scale of child emotion regulation to be completed by parents (parent-report) and children (youth-report for children). Parents and children will rate the items on a four-point Likert scale from 1 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much/very often) with greater scores (range = 7 - 28) indicating poorer emotion regulation.

This outcome will be measured by child heart rate variability during the completion of lab tasks (Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Children, Piñata Task, Cognitive Reappraisal, Parent-Child Conflict Discussion).

This outcome measure will be measured by child skin conductance level during the completion of lab tasks (Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Children, Piñata Task, Cognitive Reappraisal, Parent-Child Conflict Discussion).

This outcome will be measured through the Behavior and Feelings Survey (BFS), a 12-item measure of child psychopathology symptoms to be completed by parents (parent-report) and children (youth-report). Parents and children will rate items on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (Not a problem) to 4 (A very big problem) with greater scores (internalizing subscale range = 0-24; externalizing subscale range = 0-24; total score range = 0-48) indicating more severe psychopathology

This outcome will be measured through the Negative Emotionality subscale of the Child and Adolescent Dispositions Scale (CADS), a scale of child emotion regulation to be completed by parents (parent-report) and children (youth-report). Parents and children will rate the items on a four-point Likert scale from 1 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much/very often) with greater scores (range = 7 - 28) indicating poorer emotion regulation.

This outcome will be measured through the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), an 18-item measure of adult psychopathology symptoms to be completed by parents (parent-report). Parents will rate items on a five-item Likert scale from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Extremely) with greater scores on three dimensions (somatization, depression, anxiety, total score range = 0 - 72) indicating more severe psychopathology.

This outcome will be measured through the Parenting Stress Index-Short form (PSI-SF), a 36-item of stress in the parent-child relationship. Parents will rate items on a five-point Likert scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) with scores categorized into subscales (parental distress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction, and difficult child), and higher scores (range = 0 - 180) indicating greater stress.

This outcome will be measured through the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale - Short Form (DERS), an 18-item self-report measure of emotion regulation difficulties to be completed by parents. Parents will indicate the frequency with which they experience difficulties with emotion regulation on a five-point Likert scale from 1 (Almost never) to 5 (Almost always), with greater total scores (range = 18 - 90) indicating greater difficulties with emotion regulation.

This outcome will be measured through the Family Functioning Style Scale (FFSS), a 26-item self-report measure of family function to be completed by parents. Parents will rate items on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (Not at all like my family) to 4 (Almost always like my family), with scores categorized into five subscales (interactional patterns, family values, coping strategies, family commitment and resource mobilization) of a family's functioning style

This outcome will be measured using the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS), a 15-item measure of family organization within the home, with 7 items reflecting routine and organization and 8 items reflecting disorganization and commotion. Parents will rate each item as true or false, with scores indicating higher or lower levels of chaos and disorganization.

This outcome will be measured through the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES), a 12-item self-report measure of parental emotion parenting practices in response to children's expression of negative emotion. Responses are divided into six subscales representing six distinct types of parental responses. The responses will be grouped in two overall scores: Supportive (Expressive Encouragement, Problem-Focused, and Emotion-Focused Reactions) and Unsupportive (Punitive, Minimizing, and Distress Reactions) practices. Parents will rate the likelihood that they would respond in these distinct ways on a seven-point Likert scale from 1 (Very unlikely) to 7 (Very likely), with greater overall scores (range = 1-7) indicating greater levels of each type of parental response.

This outcome will be measured with the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screener (CATS), a 15-item screener of the occurrence of traumatic events, and 25-items of trauma symptoms. Parents will rate items on a four-point Likert scale from 0 (Never) to 3 (Almost always) with greater scores (range = 0 - 75) indicating more severe trauma symptoms.

This outcome will be measured with the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), a 20-item questionnaire consisting of single-word items describing positive (e.g. excited) and negative (e.g. scared) feelings. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale (1 = Very slightly or not at all; 5 = Extremely).