For years, the assumption has been that stereotypical behaviors functioned only to provide sensory or automatic reinforcement. However, these behaviors also may serve social functions. Given the unsettled debate, functional behavior assessment and functional analysis can be used to identify the exact function of stereotypical behavior and design…

Background: Parenting behaviors have consistently been shown to be associated with elevated anxiety symptoms and disorders in children. However, this literature is limited as most studies have focused on global rather than specific parenting behaviors, failed to consistently account for the influence of parental anxiety, and omitted examining…

Three students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who displayed off-task behavior participated in a two-phase study. In Phase 1, a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) was conducted for each student. In addition, an assessment of each student's ability to perform the replacement behavior identified that none of the participants was able to do…

Three promising investigative interview interventions were assessed in 270 children (age 6-11 years): 71 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 199 who were typically developing (TD). Children received "Verbal Labels," "Sketch Reinstatement of Context" or "Registered Intermediary" interviews designed to improve…

The principles and practices of positive psychology are gaining wider acceptance among school psychologists (Gilman, Huebner, & Furlong, 2009). Unlike traditional assessment and intervention practices that focus primarily on what is wrong and missing with students, positive practices focus on what is right and working with students--strengths,…

The current study assessed whether four 15- to 17-year-old individuals diagnosed with autism would remain on-task for more intervals and complete tasks independently as a function of using self-reinforcement or teacher-delivered reinforcement. An adapted alternating-treatments design with teacher-delivered reinforcement, self-reinforcement, and a…

A brief training package consisting of pre-teaching of appropriate grocery item--gathering skills and reinforcement for appropriate behavior was used to teach a child diagnosed with autism to remain in a store and participate in shopping without exhibiting tantrums. The training package began with teaching the necessary component skills and…

No studies of parent-implemented behavior interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have purposefully examined their effectiveness and acceptability with African American families. The present study used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effectiveness of parent-implemented differential…

Positive Behaviour Intervention and Support (PBIS) is an evidence-based approach that has been proven to be effective in remediating problem behaviours in children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the family-centred PBIS approach when involving Taiwanese families in the treatment of off-task and non-compliant…

The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-component consultation package in improving teachers' classroom management skills, particularly among teachers with lower baseline levels of knowledge, skills, and intervention-supportive beliefs. Participants were 58 elementary school teachers (93% female; 50% Non-Hispanic…

Nationally, approximately 10% of adolescents in need of treatment for a substance use (SU) disorder receive treatment. School-based treatment may provide an important opportunity to reduce the treatment gap by facilitating access to services. While some school-based SU treatment exists, little is known about whether newer, evidence-based…

In this study, we examined the contribution of the extinction procedure in function-based interventions implemented in the general education classrooms of three at-risk elementary-aged students. Function-based interventions included antecedent adjustments, reinforcement procedures, and function-matched extinction procedures. Using a combined ABC…

This study assessed the effectiveness of prevent-teach-reinforce (P-T-R), a functional behavioral assessment-based intervention for students with behavior problems, using an A-B-A-B design with follow-up. Participants included three students in kindergarten, fourth grade, and fifth grade in a rural Midwestern school district. P-T-R interventions…

This study examined the methods reportedly used to identify reinforcers in 97 skill acquisition studies involving people with autism published from 2005 through 2009. Results indicated that 32 of the 97 studies (33%) provided such information. Interviews with persons familiar with participants (e.g., parents, teachers) were the most-used…

Shelter-recruited adolescents are known to have high rates of substance abuse and co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Many studies have documented these mental health concerns, but only a small number of studies have tested interventions that may be useful for ameliorating these vulnerabilities. The current study…