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Compliance training and behavioral covariation in the treatment of multiple behavior problems
Insights
This study shows that teaching children compliance reduces other problem behaviors, even without direct training for those issues. These positive changes in child behavior were maintained differently for each child.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Behavioral Therapy
- Developmental Disorders
Background:
- Noncompliance in children often co-occurs with other challenging behaviors like aggression and self-injury.
- Effective interventions are needed to address these multifaceted behavioral issues in children.
Observation:
- A compliance-training procedure was implemented with three noncompliant children exhibiting additional deviant behaviors.
- Compliance was defined as responding correctly to adult requests.
- Other deviant behaviors were monitored but not directly targeted by the training.
Findings:
- The compliance-training procedure directly increased children's compliance with requests.
- Untreated deviant behaviors decreased as compliance improved, indicating behavioral covariation.
- The maintenance of these behavioral changes varied across individual children.
Implications:
- Compliance training can be an effective strategy for reducing a range of problem behaviors in children.
- Understanding individual differences in behavioral maintenance is crucial for sustained treatment effects.
- The findings support the principles of behavioral covariation and generalization in child behavior modification.
Abstract:
The present study investigated the use of a compliance-training procedure and its effect on untreated deviant child behaviors. Three children, each generally noncompliant to adult requests and with several additional problems, such as crying, aggression, and self-injurious behavior, were trained in the compliance procedure under a multiple-baseline design across therapists. Compliance was defined as the correct response to prespecified requests. Other classes of deviant child behavior were measured continuously throughout the study but not directly reinforced. The results of the study showed that (a) increases in compliance to requests were directly related to the contingencies employed; (b) decreases in untreated deviant behaviors occurred when compliance increased, even though no direct contingencies had been placed on these behaviors; and (c) the relationship between untreated deviant behaviors and compliance appeared to be maintained by a different set of events in each of the three children. The results are discussed in terms of behavioral covariation and generalization.