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Positive behavioural support for children and young people with developmental disabilities in special education

Lorena Beqiraj¹, Louise D Denne¹, Richard P Hastings^1,2

¹Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.

Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities : JARID

|February 24, 2022

Insights

Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) effectively reduces challenging behaviors in children with developmental disabilities in special education. Most studies show positive outcomes, though reporting of all PBS characteristics varies.

Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Special Education
Behavioural Science

Background:

Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) is a recognized intervention for children and young people (CYP) with developmental disabilities.
This review examines PBS components and characteristics within special education settings.

Purpose of the Study:

To describe PBS components and characteristics used with CYP in special education.
To evaluate the evidence for PBS effectiveness in these settings.
To investigate implementation facilitators, barriers, and stakeholder experiences.

Main Methods:

Systematic literature searches were conducted following a registered protocol.
Thirty relevant studies were identified, narratively synthesized, and critically appraised.

Main Results:

Most studies reported on 7-9 core PBS characteristics.
28 studies showed significant reductions in challenging behaviors and increases in alternative behaviors.
Not all studies fully reported on all nine PBS characteristics.

Conclusions:

Evidence on PBS implementation facilitators, barriers, and stakeholder experiences in special education is limited.
Most studies indicate PBS effectiveness for targeted behavioral outcomes.
Further research should focus on qualitative data and comprehensive reporting of PBS characteristics.

Read full analysis

Abstract

Background:

Positive behavioural support (PBS) can be effective in supporting children and young people (CYP) with developmental disabilities. This systematic review focused on describing the components and nine characteristics of PBS that have been used with CYP with developmental disabilities in special education settings, and the evidence for PBS effectiveness in these settings. Additionally, facilitators and barriers to PBS implementation, and experiences of stakeholders, were investigated.

Method:

Systematic searches followed a registered protocol, and 30 studies were identified, narratively synthesised, and critically appraised.

Results:

From the 30 studies included, 10 reported the presence of all 9 PBS characteristics, 17 reported on 8 PBS characteristics, and 3 reported on 7 characteristics. Overall, 28 studies demonstrated significant decreases in behaviours that challenge and increases in alternative behaviours, if increasing alternative behaviours was part of the interventions.

Conclusions:

There was a lack of evidence on facilitators and barriers, and a lack of qualitative studies exploring experiences of stakeholders with PBS in special education settings. The available evidence suggested that not all studies reported on all PBS characteristics when describing the approach followed. In addition, available evidence suggested that most studies demonstrated effectiveness of PBS regarding the measured outcomes. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Keywords:

autism functional behaviour assessment intellectual disability positive behavioural support(s)special education systematic review

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