Physically aggressive elderly: a social skills training program

The present investigation utilized a social skills training program to eliminate physically aggressive behavior in a group of six institutionalized elderly patients. The treatment package consisted of instructions, modeling, role playing and feedback. Dependent measures included confirmed incidents of physically aggressive behavior monitored across an ABAB design with a 5-month follow-up period. Results indicated that physically aggressive behavior can be significantly decreased in a group training setting and subsequently generalized to ward and other socialized behavior. Ancillary aspects of the study include the differential properties associated with physical and verbal aggression, the role of vicarious reinforcement on behavior, and generalization effects.