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Standardised Observation Analogue Procedure (SOAP) for assessing parent and child behaviours in clinical trials
Cynthia R Johnson1, Eric M Butter, Benjamin L Handen
1University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Autism Center, 3705 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. cynthia.johnson@chp.edu
Insights
The Standardised Observational Analogue Procedure (SOAP) effectively measures noncompliant behavior in children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and shows sensitivity to treatment changes.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Disabilities Research
- Behavioral Assessment
Background:
- Observational measures of parent-child behavior are crucial in child psychiatric and psychological intervention research.
- The field of autism and developmental disability has a long history of utilizing such measures.
- The Standardised Observational Analogue Procedure (SOAP) was developed for assessing parent-child interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the development of the SOAP.
- To assess parent-child behavior before and after a structured parent training program.
- To evaluate the utility of SOAP in a pilot study of children with PDD.
Main Methods:
- Development of the Standardised Observational Analogue Procedure (SOAP).
- Application of SOAP in a pilot study involving 12 participants with PDD.
- Inter-rater reliability assessment and analysis of observational data.
Main Results:
- Inter-rater reliability for coded behaviors ranged from 75-100% agreement.
- Blindly scored observations indicated medium effect sizes for changes in inappropriate child behavior.
- SOAP scores showed a moderate positive correlation with parent ratings of child noncompliance (r(s) = .66, p < .05).
Conclusions:
- Preliminary results suggest SOAP is a valid measure for noncompliant behavior in children with PDD.
- The SOAP procedure is sensitive to treatment effects on inappropriate child behaviors.
- The findings support SOAP's use in evaluating interventions targeting compliance.
Background:
Observational measures of parent and child behaviours have a long history in child psychiatric and psychological intervention research, including the field of autism and developmental disability. We describe the development of the Standardised Observational Analogue Procedure (SOAP) for the assessment of parent-child behaviour before and after a structured parent training program for children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). We report on the use of this procedure in a pilot study of 12 participants with PDD.
Results:
Inter-rater reliability across behaviours coded ranged from 75-100% agreement. Blindly scored observations of behaviour showed medium effect sizes for changes in inappropriate child behaviour. Analyses of baseline scores revealed a moderate positive correlation between inappropriate child behaviours as measured in all four SOAP conditions and parent ratings of child noncompliance (r(s) = .66, p < .05). By contrast, the correlations of SOAP scores with parent ratings of irritability was lower (r(s) = .40, p >.05).
Conclusions:
As our treatment targeted compliance, these preliminary results suggest that the SOAP provides a valid measure of noncompliant behaviour in children with PDD and is sensitive to treatment effects on inappropriate child behaviours.
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