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An Informant Report Behavior Diary for Measuring Temper Outbursts in an Intervention Setting

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Abstract

Temper outbursts are associated with several psychological disorders and comprise a high priority for intervention. However, the low frequency of outbursts presents a challenge for valid measurement. In the present study an informant report behavior diary for measuring temper outbursts was developed and its validity assessed in a case series. Caregivers of 12 individuals with the neurodevelopmental disorder Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS, in which temper outbursts are common) completed a behavior diary over 4 weeks, and a structured interview. Heart rate and movement data were recorded during a sample of the days subject to diary reporting. Individuals with PWS completed self-report ratings of negative emotion experience. Behavior diaries showed high concordance with the component behaviors and duration of temper outbursts reported in structured interviews; but tended to report a lower frequency. For outbursts reported in diaries during physiological recording, heart rate was consistently elevated above a resting state baseline; and was comparable to that recorded during high physical activity. Available self-report data demonstrated correspondence with the diaries but few self-report data were produced. The present results provide critical proof of principle data supporting the concurrent validity of the ecologically valid, resource efficient diaries, which can be exploited in future research.

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Notes

  1. The cited study described the range of percentages of temper outburst behaviors reported in the interviews of 8 of the present participants, which were also reported in their behavior diaries. However, convergent validity of the two measures was not assessed in detail nor is the type of agreement assessed previously reported in the present study.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks should go to the Prader-Willi Association UK and to Gretton Homes for their assistance with recruitment. In addition, Jessica Penhallow, Amy Perry, Helena Todd and Vicky Johnson made important contributions to data collection and analysis. This work was supported financially by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation (grant number 696-WK1-2009A); by Cerebra, through core support to CO for the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders; and by the School of Psychology, University of Birmingham for co-funding of the doctoral work of LEB.

Research Involving Human Participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Leah E. Bull, Chris Oliver & Penelope L. Tunnicliffe

  2. School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK

    Kate A. Woodcock

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  1. Leah E. Bull
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  2. Chris Oliver
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  3. Penelope L. Tunnicliffe
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  4. Kate A. Woodcock
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Correspondence to Kate A. Woodcock.

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Bull, L.E., Oliver, C., Tunnicliffe, P.L. et al. An Informant Report Behavior Diary for Measuring Temper Outbursts in an Intervention Setting. J Dev Phys Disabil 27, 489–504 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-015-9429-1

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