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Closing the gap: unmet needs of individuals with impulsive aggressive behavior observed in children and adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2020

Adelaide S. Robb*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
Daniel F. Connor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Medical School, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
Birgit H. Amann
Affiliation:
Behavioral Medical Center—Troy, Troy, Michigan, USA
Benedetto Vitiello
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Azmi Nasser
Affiliation:
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rockville, Maryland, USA
Welton O’Neal
Affiliation:
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rockville, Maryland, USA
Stefan Schwabe
Affiliation:
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rockville, Maryland, USA
Gianpiera Ceresoli-Borroni
Affiliation:
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rockville, Maryland, USA
Jeffrey H. Newcorn
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
Shawn A. Candler
Affiliation:
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rockville, Maryland, USA
Jan K. Buitelaar
Affiliation:
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Robert L. Findling
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Adelaide S. Robb, Email: AROBB@childrensnational.org

Abstract

Impulsive aggressive (IA, or impulsive aggression) behavior describes an aggregate set of maladaptive, aggressive behaviors occurring across multiple neuropsychiatric disorders. IA is reactive, eruptive, sudden, and unplanned; it provides information about the severity, but not the nature, of its associated primary disorder. IA in children and adolescents is of serious clinical concern for patients, families, and physicians, given the detrimental impact pediatric IA can have on development. Currently, the ability to properly identify, monitor, and treat IA behavior across clinical populations is hindered by two major roadblocks: (1) the lack of an assessment tool designed for and sensitive to the set of behaviors comprising IA, and (2) the absence of a treatment indicated for IA symptomatology. In this review, we discuss the clinical gaps in the approach to monitoring and treating IA behavior, and highlight emerging solutions that may improve clinical outcomes in patients with IA.

Type
Perspective
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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