Behavior modification and assertive discipline approaches use rewards and negative consequences (extinction procedures) to deal with students' maladaptive behavior. Behavior modification has significant limitations, as it treats symptoms, not causes; yields only short-term benefits; has limited transfer value for other environments; and values…

All too often, one behavioral intervention is used universally to handle a variety of problem behaviors, regardless of the function of the misbehavior. This article describes how a functional assessment of behavior can be used to identify the purpose of misbehaviors and plan effective behavioral interventions. (Author)

Demonstrates the merits of preceding experimental analyses with descriptive analyses of functional variables with preschool children who engage in problematic behavior. A two-phase descriptive analysis was conducted in daycare settings with three children. Results show that when the descriptive data were plotted via functional variables, specific…

The duration or magnitude of reinforcement has varied and often appears to have been selected arbitrarily in functional analysis research. Few studies have evaluated the effects of reinforcement magnitude on problem behavior, even though basic findings indicate that this parameter may affect response rates during functional analyses. In the…

Schools are now required by law to create behavior support plans based on functional behavioral assessment (FBA) for students with behavior problems. Although FBA has been shown to be effective, there are questions as to its feasibility in the schools. In this pilot study we examined the effectiveness of a truncated FBA procedure. The FBA used a…

Children with developmental disabilities (DD) often present with comorbid disruptive behavior problems that may negatively affect their education, treatment, and social interactions. Therefore, treatments that reduce disruptive behavior in children with DD are critical. Three characteristics strongly suggest that PCIT is an appropriate treatment…

We describe the assessment and treatment of 2 children with autism spectrum disorder whose problem behaviors (self-injury, aggression, and disruption) were multiply controlled. Results of functional analyses indicated that the children's problem behaviors were maintained by both positive reinforcement (attention) and negative reinforcement (escape…

The AISD Positive Behavior Support (PBS) model is based on national models that use behavior support systems at the universal, targeted, and intensive levels of intervention to promote pro-social behaviors, to reduce chronic disruptive and destructive behaviors among students, and to meet the needs of children with significant behavior challenges.…

Our study of 477 children with autism (1-15 years, IQs 9-146) showed that parent reported sleep problems are found in most children with autism and are not significantly related to age, IQ, gender, race, parent occupation, neuropsychological functioning, and learning ability. However, sleep problems increased with severity of autistic symptoms and…

Researchers report mental health disparities that indicate that children and families with the highest need for services often are less likely to use them. Only a few investigators have focused on service delivery models to address underuse of services. This study examines the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)/University of California,…

This state-of-the-art practitioner resource and course text provides a comprehensive view of adolescent development and spells out effective ways to help teens who are having difficulties. The book illuminates protective and risk factors in the many contexts of adolescents' lives, from individual attributes to family, school, neighborhood, and…

The article reviews the current status (1993-2007) of psychosocial treatments for children and adolescents who have been exposed to traumatic events. Twenty-one treatment studies are evaluated using criteria from Nathan and Gorman (2002) along a continuum of methodological rigor ranging from Type 1 to Type 6. All studies were, at a minimum, robust…

Many present day classroom teachers face greater challenges than perhaps during any time in the past. Teachers are expected to: (a) provide evidence-based instruction to ensure that students make adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB); (b) serve an increasingly diverse group of students including students with…

Research conducted with non-Hispanic Whites indicates that parents of preschoolers with behavioral problems are more likely to have an external locus of control regarding parenting than parents whose preschoolers are free of such problems. However, it is unclear whether such research can be generalized to Mexican American families, especially…

Errorless compliance training is a noncoercive, success-focused approach to treatment of problem behavior in children. The intervention involves graduated exposure of a child to increasingly more challenging requests at a slow enough rate to ensure that noncompliance rarely occurs, providing parents with many opportunities to reinforce cooperative…