Jack Sandler

Training abusive parents in child management and self-control skills *

The present study examined the effects of parent training and self-control techniques with child-abusing parents. Prior to intervention, eight baseline sessions were conducted in the home in which each familys interactions were analyzed with the Patterson Coding System. Parent-training and self-control techniques were administered using a two-variable withdrawal design. The parent-training component focused on teaching positive reinforcement skills and alleviating inappropriate or punitive child management techniques. The cognitive-behavioral training focused on helping the parents cope with their aggressive impulses and feelings of anger and frustration. Analysis of the data showed a reduction in total aversive behavior and an increase in prosocial behaviors (e.g., attention, approval) during treatment and follow-up observations. In addition, the target children in both families revealed an increase in prosocial and less aversive behavior during treatment and follow-up. The efficacy of teaching abusive parents anger-control techniques was examined along with implications for further research.

Preventing relapse in obesity through posttreatment maintenance systems: comparing the relative efficacy of two levels of therapist support.

The present study compared the relative effectiveness of a therapist-supported maintenance condition with a minimal contact maintenance condition in preventing relapse following an obesity treatment program. Thirty-two subjects who completed an initial 12-week cognitive/behavioral plus aerobic exercise treatment program were matched on absolute weight loss and randomly assigned to one of two maintenance conditions. Subjects were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3, 6, and 12 months following posttreatment using measures of weight, blood pressure, and depression. Three- and six-month follow-up results indicated that subjects who participated in the therapist-supported maintenance group continued to lose weight and/or maintained therapy-induced weight loss to a greater degree than control subjects. At the 12-month follow-up assessment therapist-supported subjects maintained therapy-induced weight loss better than the control subjects. These findings suggest that maintenance programs which provide continued contact emphasizing relapse prevention training may be an important adjunct in the maintenance of therapy-induced weight loss.

Training child abusers in the use of positive reinforcement practices

Abstract A parent training program involving reading assignments, practice assignments, role-playing and contingent reinforcement was implemented for two parents identified as child abusers. Measures selected from the Patterson Coding System served as the dependent variables. Several constructive changes in parent-child interactions were observed, some of which were maintained for as long as five months post-training.

The importance of adjudication in the treatment of child abusers: Some preliminary findings☆

Demographic characteristics and court dispositions of 71 abusive families referred to a treatment program emphasizing child management skills were investigated to determine the influence of these variables upon parental participation and benefit from treatment. These analyses determined that parents who were court-ordered to complete treatment as a requirement for full return of child custody were approximately five times more likely to successfully complete treatment than a family who was not required by the court to participate (voluntary). Similarly, a voluntary family was approximately five times more likely to refuse or withdraw from treatment than a court-ordered family. The discussion of these findings focused on the importance of delineating clear objectives for abusive parents which can be accomplished in a parent training program in order to avoid uncertain expectations and poor attendance. The use of the family court or similar procedure to underscore to abusive parents the importance of active involvement in learning more appropriate child management skills was supported by these data.

Laboratory Observations of Two Sub-Species of Marmosets

The results of over two years of observations on two subspecies of marmosets offer certain clues for their use in behavioral research. The major maintenance problem which we have faced related to the periodic occurrence of epidemics due to various viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases. A treatment regimen for minimizing these difficulties is suggested. With regard to their use in behavioral studies, a number of recommendations relating to handling, transporting and isolating effective reinforcers are offered. In general, while problems in the use of marmosets continue to exist, there is good reason to believe that the establishment of such a primate colony could represent an important addition to many psychological laboratories.

The treatment of adult obesity through direct manipulation of specific eating behaviors

The present study investigated the effects of three different conditions on weight loss in adult obese subjects. The three conditions were: (1) Monitoring-Contract (MC) in which subjects were reinforced by the return of a valued possession for changes in eating habits; (2) Monitoring (M); and Attention-Placebo (AP). Subjects in the MC group lost significantly more absolute weight and a significantly greater percentage of weight at the end of treatment than did the subjects in the M and AP groups. These changes were still manifested at a 2 month and a 6 month follow-up. The long-term advantages of a weight reduction program which focuses on a gradual and systematic weight loss through changes in eating habits are discussed.

Utilization of an experimenter-controlled manikin in analysis of social stimuli maintaining behavior of an autistic-like child.

A two-part exploratory study was conducted to determine the feasibility of utilizing an experimenter-controlled human-like manikin in analyzing the social stimuli maintaining and controlling the behavior of a 10-yr.-old nonverbal, autistic-like child. In Phase I the frequency and duration of 7 behaviors emitted in the presence of a male, female, or manikin were recorded. Phase II involved measurements of 8 behaviors emitted during 6 conditions in which the social stimulus properties of the manikin were systematically varied with respect to the extent to which the manikin appeared “human-like.” The behaviors emitted by this particular child in the presence of the manikin, during Phase I, were similar to those observed in the presence of humans. In Phase II various behaviors emitted by the child were systematically varied as a function of the degree to which the manikin resembled and behaved like a human. The potential utility of utilizing an experimenter-controlled manikin in the analysis and possible modification of behavior is discussed.

Punished extinction: Facilitation or increased resistance to extinction

In order to investigate the effects of resistance to exinction of changes in stimulus conditions from acquisition to extinction of an avoidance response, four rats were presented with the following extinction conditions: regular, punished regular, delay (CS continued independently of S’s behavior), and punished delay. Using the regular condition as a control, the punished conditions resulted in facilitation for the first two or three trials followed by reduced resistance to extinction. No systematic changes were found as a function of the delay condition. These results were interpreted as support for a discrimination hypothesis.