Behavior-change theories reliably explain behavior, but they often lack messaging recommendations to modify behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) could benefit from clear, replicable messaging strategies to target its constructs of attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) about a behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Habit Theory…

Behavioral skills training (BST) (Parsons et al., 2012) is a common intervention for training staff and caregivers to engage in various important behaviors. However, BST is labor intensive, costly, and often requires extensive involvement from a supervisor or experienced trainer (DiGennaro Reed & Henley, 2015), which may not always be…

Challenging student behavior can have detrimental effects on both students and staff. These effects do not only include students' diminished rates of on-task behavior and low-grade performance, but managing behavior can result in elevated levels of psychological distress and burnout, which places education workers at risk of experiencing…

Rising Autism diagnosis rates have prompted numerous awareness campaigns, treatment programs, social-emotional learning initiatives, research institutes, etc. Developing analogously, the Neurodiversity movement--an activist-led social justice movement focused on equity and justice for neurodivergent people--has presented compelling critiques of…

With the rates of autism and the Latino population steadily rising in the United States, Latino families face marked disparities with access to timely and quality care. To date, there is little documented literature for how to best support Latino caregivers of young children with autism. Caregiver coaching is one method to disseminate…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a behavioral based intervention program on minority student behavior. The Breakfast Club was an intervention created with the goal of improving the negative behavior of minority adolescent students. The participants in this study were minority, high school students who displayed frequent…

In this dissertation an integrated intervention in high schools is proposed for students with anxiety that combines CBT and yoga methods. The development of this program was derived from a critical review of the literature on CBT and yoga programs in high school that aim to reduce anxiety in students. Thirteen studies that used CBT programs and…

Authentic connections and experiences frequently occur between students, educational material, peers, and staff. Staff set the climate and culture of the classroom and impact the academic, behavioral, social, and emotional achievement of students. To support students behaviorally and academically, schools across the United States have created a…

Traditionally, schools have trusted both punishments of suspensions for problem conduct or exclusion of students who participate in delinquent behavior as tactics for reducing the harmful effects of problem behavior. Over time, these approaches have been proven unsuccessful and costly. The PBIS strategies are alleged to help teachers maximize…

Interventions related to differential reinforcement (DR) are among the most frequently used within the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). However, certain conditions can inhibit the level at which effects of these interventions maintain upon treatment challenges or generalize across contexts. This can result in the relapse, or recurrence of…

Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project evaluated the effectiveness of an educational intervention to enhance adult ADHD patients' understanding and acceptance of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as an augmentative treatment. The goal was to encourage participants to pursue an MBCT referral from their provider. This initiative was…

For this study, an alternating treatment single-case research design was used to evaluate and compare the impacts of student-led and teacher-led Tootling on individual student's disruptive behaviors and academic engagement. Student-led Tootling, teacher-led Tootling, and baseline conditions were alternated daily following a systematically blocked,…

This study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary promise of an online, self-guided DBT skills course for Distress Tolerance, TheraHive. The course included seven weeks of skills lessons, that were delivered entirely online, in a self-guided format. The course material included written content, animated case studies, instructor…

Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) refers to interventions grounded in behavioral learning and developmental sciences. These interventions are commonly implemented in natural settings with children with autism and intellectual developmental disabilities. Although NDBI is a relatively new term in the behavior analytic…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have challenges with communication, changes in routine, and processing social information and communication that can affect their ability to learn and respond successfully to safety threats. When given behavioral skills training (BST), children with and without ASD have demonstrated gains in safety…