Scholars in the field of special education put forth a series of papers that proposed quality indicators for specific research designs that must be present for a study to be considered of high quality, as well as standards for evaluating a body of research to determine whether a practice is evidence-based. The purpose of this article was to pilot…

Background: Children with Autistic Disorder (AD) evidence more co-occurring maladaptive behaviours than their typically developing peers and peers with intellectual disability because of other aetiologies. The present study investigated the prevalence of Clinically Significant maladaptive behaviours during early childhood and identified at-risk…

Data suggesting that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficacious for late-life anxiety are accumulating; however, effectiveness has not been well established. Incorporating CBT for anxiety into home care is needed to facilitate access to evidenced-based treatment for a growing population of community-dwelling, functionally impaired elderly…

Background: A combination of an attachment-based therapy and behaviour modification was investigated for children with persistent challenging behaviour. Method: Six clients with visual and severe intellectual disabilities, severe challenging behaviour and with a background of pathogenic care were treated. Challenging behaviour was recorded…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are considered to be among the most serious of the mental health conditions. Concomitant with many cases of ASD is intellectual disability. Further compounding the disability is the fact that both conditions are known risk factors for self-injurious behavior (SIB). To date, the most effective intervention methods,…

This paper describes an experiment designed to test an imagery-based craving management technique with a sample of adolescents diagnosed with substance-use disorders. Seventy adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 (41 males) were recruited through two substance-abuse treatment programs. The experimental procedure involved stimulating craving…

Dental anxiety is a common form of anxiety problem, and research suggests that more people with learning disabilities experience dental anxiety than in the general population. Very little work has been done to investigate effective non-medical approaches for supporting people with a learning disability and dental anxiety to access dental care.…

A substantial percentage of children with anxiety disorders do not respond adequately to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Examination of parental factors related to treatment outcome could contribute to a further understanding of treatment outcome responses. This study investigated the predictive value of paternal and maternal emotional warmth,…

Objective: To review and provide details about the primary and secondary findings from the Multimodal Treatment study of ADHD (MTA) published during the past decade as three sets of articles. Method: In the second of a two part article, we provide additional background and detail required by the complexity of the MTA to address confusion and…

The effects of providing descriptive prompts to increase activity attendance and engagement in 6 individuals with dementia were evaluated using a reversal design. The results showed that providing descriptive prompts increased activity attendance and engagement for all participants. The results support the use of antecedent interventions for…

Objective: The authors examined the effect of certified personal trainer services on exercise behavior by using the transtheoretical model of behavioral change. Participants: Female college students (n = 449) completed surveys during the first week (T1) and last week (T2) of the fall semester. Methods: Students receiving personal trainer services…

Schools remain one of the safest environments for children. However, in far too many schools, a lack of respect for the authority of teachers and other school employees, as well as for the rights of other students, is undermining the ability of schools to provide students with a quality education. Even in the best schools, employees often…

Two third-grade Taiwanese students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders participated in a pull-out, small-group social skills training program developed to promote their skill acquisition and maintenance. Using a multiple baseline across skills design, the authors demonstrated that both participants made marked performance improvement in…

The purpose of this experiment was to establish discriminative control of responding by an antecedent stimulus using differential punishment because the results of past studies on this topic have been mixed. Three adults with mental retardation who exhibited stereotypy not maintained by social consequences (i.e., automatic reinforcement)…

Belief in one's ability to change is an important cognitive variable related to treatment gains. This study investigated pretreatment expectancy for anxiety change and early homework compliance in relation to initial and total cognitive change in group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety. Participants, who met diagnostic criteria for at…