This article reviews the functional assessment paradigm in relation to students with serious emotional and behavioral disorders who have well developed cognitive abilities and linguistic skills. Based on the needs of these students, the Assessment Intervention Process, a system for facilitating the development of effective positive behavior plans…

This article reviews the social skills training knowledge base and describes social skills training considerations for children who are at-risk and/or display antisocial behavior at three grade levels: preschool and elementary, middle schools, and high school. Characteristics of students, composition of model social skills interventions, and…

Functional analyses were conducted with three boys (ages 4-7) with behavior disorders. The students were then successfully taught to self-manage incompatible appropriate behavior as well as appropriate requests for reinforcement (i.e., escape, attention, materials) identified as functionally related to the problematic target behaviors. (Contains…

Addresses the debate over aversive versus nonaversive treatment for preschool children with severe behavior disorders. Discusses problematic aspects of an ideological approach to behavior disorder treatment; relative intrusiveness of psychoactive medications; alternatives to legal actions against school districts; side effects; therapeutic effects…

Following an initial school inservice workshop on functional assessment and differential reinforcement procedures with five children having severe behavior problems, on-site technical assistance was provided to local school personnel working in transdisciplinary teams. Functional analysis was effective in identifying individual maintaining…

This article analyzes variables associated with adherence by parents to recommendations designed to solve common childhood problems and specific corresponding processes that are responsible for poor adherence. Adherence variables include establishing operations, stimulus generalization, response acquisition, and consequent events. (Contains…

This article presents seven sequential steps to completing a functional behavioral analysis and a behavioral intervention plan for a student with emotional/behavior disorders: (1) description of the behavior; (2) refinement of the behavior; (3) data collection; (4) data analysis; (5) hypothesis generation; (6) behavior intervention plan…

Twenty-two middle school students with emotional/behavioral disorders placed in an alternative school were exposed to a cognitive-behavioral intervention which decreased the inappropriate external responses to anger and increased anger control as measured by student self-reports and teacher behavioral checklists. No effect was found for internal…

This article discusses factors related to antisocial behavior in school and provides the following suggestions for prevention of antisocial behavior and dropouts: reduce punitive methods of control, provide clear rules, assure support for educators, minimize academic failure experiences, teach social skills, use appropriate behavior management…

This article presents some considerations and ideas for managing students' resistance. They are organized around four topics: the impact of context on behavior, the importance of being comprehensive and nonrestrictive in behavior, the adaptive function of resistant behavior, and the benefit of joining children in their frame of reference.…

This article discusses some of the major challenges school districts face in implementing functional behavioral assessments (FBAs). A school improvement initiative, "Success4," is presented to illustrate an Iowa approach. Arguments are presented for fundamental changes in order to enhance school district effectiveness and accountability…

Sixty-five expert, experienced, and novice cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic psychotherapists provided "think aloud" case formulations in response to 6 standardized patient vignettes varying in disorder and prototypicality. The 390 formulations were reliably transcribed, segmented into idea units, content coded, and rated on multiple…

Evidence-based treatments exist for a range of child and adolescent behavior problems; however, effects are often limited by poor treatment attendance and adherence. The authors developed and evaluated the efficacy of a brief (5 to 45 min) intervention designed to increase treatment attendance and adherence in a sample of 76 parents referred for…

In today's heterogeneous classrooms, one-method-fits-all-students behavior management approaches are ineffective and often harmful. To succeed with all of their students, teachers should determine whether students have emotional disorders, conduct/behavior disorders, robust male-typical behavior patterns, culturally influenced behavior, learning…

This treatment research compares Mode Deactivation Therapy(MDT) to Treatment as Usual (TAU) with suicidal adolescents. This treatment research study examines the effects of MDT vs. TAU on adolescents who had co-morbid mental health issues as well as, personality disorders and traits. MDT was shown to be more effective in reducing suicidal thoughts…