Stephen D. A. Hupp

Development and Validation of the Parental Authority Questionnaire - Revised

Baumrinds conceptualization of parenting style has influenced research and theorizing about child-rearing for more than 30 years, yet few clinical applications of this work have been realized. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a parenting style measure, the Parental Authority Questionnaire – Revised (PAQ-R). This project furthered the development and validation of the instrument by examining the factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity of the PAQ-R in a large, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample. The factor structure and reliability of the PAQ-R was modest, but generally within the acceptable range. Specifically, the Authoritarian and Permissive subscales of the PAQ-R had modest reliability and convergent validity; these PAQ-R subscales correlated with relevant subscales of the Parenting Scale and the Parent–Child Relationship Inventory. By contrast, the Authoritativeness subscale had poorer psychometric properties when used in lower SES, primarily African American populations. While African American mothers in the sample reported being more Permissive than did Caucasian mothers, these differences disappeared after controlling for income and maternal education. By contrast, African American mothers continued to report more Authoritarian attitudes even after controlling for income and maternal education.

The Influence of a Token Economy and Methylphenidate on Attentive and Disruptive Behavior during Sports with Adhd-Diagnosed Children:

Three children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) participated in a summer program designed to evaluate the influence of stimulant medication and a token economy on attentive and disruptive behavior during kickball games. Attentive and disruptive behavior were assessed using an interval coding system, and daily ratings on the ADHD Index of the Conners Teacher Rating Scale-Revised were also obtained.Amultielement reversal designwas used, and the results indicated that both interventions independently improved attentive behavior and decreased disruptive behavior for the participants. Contrary to other research, when the token economy and medication were compared in isolation, the token system appeared more effective in reducing disruptive behavior for 2 of the 3 participants. In addition, the token system generally enhanced the effects of stimulant medication.

The Effects of Delayed Rewards, Tokens, and Stimulant Medication on Sportsmanlike Behavior with Adhd-Diagnosed Children

Five children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder participated in a summer program designed to evaluate behavioral and pharmacological treatments in a recreational setting. The effect of a contingency for increased sportsmanlike behavior, with and without the use of tokens, was examined during kickball games. The influence of stimulant medication was also examined for 3 of the children.Amultiple-baseline, reversal design revealed that a delayed reward condition did not increase sportsmanlike behavior, whereas the addition of tokens (and praise) to the delayed reward increased sportsmanlike behavior for all 5 participants. Stimulant medication appeared to have very little influence on sportsmanlike behavior. Future directions for behavioral social skills interventions using a sports skills model are also discussed.

Behavior Change and Perceptions of Change: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Token Economy

ABSTRACT Token economies often reduce problematic classroom behavior in preschool settings. In the present study, direct observation and teacher ratings of child behavior and treatment acceptability were utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of a token economy in a Head Start classroom. Because many teachers express concerns about the effort required to implement and maintain token systems, this study compared the relative efficacies of group and individualized contingency management programs. Direct observation data for three children revealed that both the individual and group contingency were superior to a baseline condition in which no systematic behavior management program was utilized. In addition, the whole group contingency was generally as effective as the individual contingency. However, despite reductions in classroom rule violations for the three target children, the acceptability of the token program was variable and little change was observed in the teachers ratings of their behavior. The results suggest the ongoing need for multiple measures of treatment outcome (e.g., teacher and student ratings of acceptability and effectiveness, direct observation) even for empirically supported school-based interventions.

History and Overview

Generally speaking, friendships in childhood are associated with positive outcomes and being disliked is associated with negative outcomes (Parker & Asher,1987). More specifically, social skills have been linked to academic achievement, psychological adjustment, coping skills, and employment (Miles & Stipek,2006). Conversely, social skills deficits and maladaptive social behaviors are an integral part of the diagnostic criteria of a variety of disorders within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Social problems are also used to demonstrate the impairment in social functioning that is considered for most diagnoses. Research involving social behavior has included many definitional inconsistencies; thus there have been many attempts to define and conceptualize social behavior in children and adolescents. In this chapter we will review basic definitions and conceptualizations of social behavior. This chapter will also provide a broad overview of the assessment and treatment of social problems.

Promoting social skills generalization with ADHD-diagnosed children in a sports setting

Efforts to promote social skills generalization among ADHD-diagnosed children have had limited success. Despite evidence that attentiveness and social skills can be enhanced, the general absence of gains beyond the original treatment setting or extended through time suggests a need for systematic generalization planning. In the present study, a combination of techniques described by Stokes and Baer (1977) were implemented to foster the transfer of target behaviors across settings. A multiple-baseline design across 4 participants was used to evaluate efforts to promote the generalization of social skills in a sports context. Results suggested that a combination of generalization procedures, including training sufficient exemplars, training loosely, indiscriminable contingencies, programming common stimuli, and training to generalize, was effective in producing generalization of social skills from individual training sessions to a group kickball game. No arbitrary contingencies for appropriate social behavior were in effect during the kickball game and very little evidence of generalization was observed in the absence of explicit programming efforts. Researchers should continue to refine techniques for programming generalization and more actively involving paraprofessionals in the treatment of ADHD-diagnosed children.

Examining the Effects of Fatal Vision Goggles on Changing Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Drinking and Driving

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Fatal Vision goggles. College students (N = 251) were randomly assigned to one of four groups including two control groups, a group wearing the goggles, and a group watching those wearing the goggles. Attitudes and behaviors toward drinking and driving were assessed immediately prior to and after the intervention, and then again at a four-week follow up. The group wearing the goggles reported significantly greater declines in accepting attitudes toward drinking and driving compared to the other groups at the immediate post-test. However, these differences disappeared after four weeks. Also, the change in attitude was not accompanied by a similar decrease in drunk driving behaviors. Editors Strategic Implications: School and agency administrators, seeking to reduce unacceptably high rates of drinking and driving, will benefit from this well-designed longitudinal experiment. Replication will be necessary, but the authors present strong evidence that this is a prevention strategy that does not result in behavioral change.

The effects of stating contingency-specifying stimuli on compliance in children.

The present investigation examined whether distinguishing between the discriminative and function-altering properties of contingency-specifying stimuli (CSS) is of heuristic value in conceptualizing child compliance. Groups of “compliant” and “noncompliant” children were instructed to place several blocks in a box. During half of the trials the children had an immediate opportunity to respond to the instruction (IOR), and during the other trials the children’s opportunity to respond was delayed by 10 min (DOR). Results showed that 5 of the 8 children were more likely to comply in the IOR condition, whereas the 3 remaining children were equally compliant in IOR and DOR conditions. In addition, the study investigated the influence of condition presentation sequence on child compliance. Thus, half of the children entered the IOR condition first, and the other half entered the DOR condition first. Results showed no differences in compliance for 3 of 4 children in the IOR-first sequence. However, in the DOR-first sequence, all children, regardless of classification, were more compliant in IOR than in DOR conditions. Presentation order appeared to strongly influence compliance and could likely have affected the results of prior investigations.

Targeting Reading Fluency Through Brief Experimental Analysis and Parental Intervention Over the Summer

Although past research has examined repeated reading (RR) and listening passage preview (LPP) in great detail, several issues related to their applied usage with individual students remain. Questions including the number of times students are required to engage with the instructional materials during treatment and tracking fluency gains on untrained probes become important during individualized intervention. In addition, most RR and LPP work has been conducted by school personnel during the academic year rather than by parents over the summer months. As such, the current study used brief experimental analysis to identify the most effective number of RR or LPP implementations for two second graders, which was then employed by each childs mother during the summer months. Progress monitoring included tracking fluency gains on untrained AIMSweb probes. Results indicated both increased correct words per minute during intervention and maintenance at 6-week follow-up and are discussed in terms of applied decision making for individual students.

Time-out with Parents: A Descriptive Analysis of 30 Years of Research

The current data-based review encompasses 30 years of research involving parental use of time-out (TO). Although extensively researched for decades, parental usage of TO continues to vary widely across a number of procedural variables. As such, the current review provides descriptive data for 40 articles published between 1977 and 2007 along both participant-related and TO procedural variables. Although results indicate wide parental usage of TO as a behavior management strategy, the application of specific procedural variables remains diverse and often unable to be ascertained. Based on current data, the review also includes specific practitioner recommendations and cautions in easily accessible bulleted form related to parental use of TO.