A comparison of staff training procedures. Behavioral applications in the child psychiatric inpatient setting

Staff Attitudes Towards Data Collection in Behavioural Programming for the Intellectually Disabled

Attitudes of staff responsible for the implementation of behavioural programs toward the collection of data were assessed. A questionnaire was devised to evaluate three aspects of attitude towards data collection: perceived importance and/or usefulness of information gained, practical feasibility of data collection and professional support aspects of data collection. Seven items were pooled to generate an Attitude Score which was found to have high reliability and internal consistency. The remaining individually considered items were also reliable. Responses from 191 subjects indicated an overall positive attitude towards data collection. Theoretical and methodological problems are addressed and suggestions for further study are made.

Effects of adding on-the-job feedback to conventional analog staff training in a nursing home

The aims of this study were to examine effects of on-the-job feedback after conventional analog staff training and to corroborate earlier findings of competent performance maintained without feedback from others. The study took place in a nursing home with four staff participants and a resident with problem behaviors. A multiple baseline design with measures of staff and resident behavior was used, supplemented with social validity reports. The staff training program consisted of conventional group workshops plus individual on-the-job feedback. During maintenance, staff members continued recording resident behaviors but without further on-the-job feedback. Results show that after workshop training, staff performance increased, but only one staff participant demonstrated competency. With on-the-job feedback, all staff participants achieved and maintained competency. Procedures were effective and acceptable, and resident behaviors showed corresponding changes.

Maintaining instructional behavior after on-the-job training with process-based performance feedback

Maintenance was examined after two instructors received on-the-job training with verbal process-based feedback (i.e., feedback emphasizing instructor performance over client behavior). During process-based feedback, instructors were taught to accurately perform a modified Distar Language program with a school-aged child with autism. A maintenance condition followed, during which feedback was no longer provided except for basic outcome feedback generated by the instructors themselves. Instructor and child behavior levels, performance error, and rates were measured in a multiple baseline design and reported during 15 weeks. Results show that instructor and child behavior were maintained after training concluded. Given previous findings, these results suggest that if instructors are first trained to perform accurately, then maintenance with minimal feedback is more likely to occur.

Teacher use of descriptive analysis data to implement interventions to decrease students' problem behaviors

We conducted two field studies using a behavioral consultation approach to reduce children's problem behaviors in public school settings. The first study consisted of a descriptive analysis in which the students and their teachers were observed during naturally occurring classroom activities. The results of the descriptive analysis provided hypotheses regarding the operant function of the students' problem behaviors. The hypotheses were tested in the second experiment directly through a modified experimental analysis and indirectly through an evaluation of the treatment effects. The interventions were designed to disrupt the inappropriate response-reinforcer relation by discontinuing contingent reinforcement (i.e., extinction), providing the reinforcer contingent on appropriate play behaviors, and teaching the students verbal skills functionally equivalent to the inappropriate response. The classroom teachers were trained to implement the interventions and conduct the experimental analyses during classroom activities in which the problem behaviors occurred most frequently. The interventions were effective in decreasing the students' problem behaviors while concurrently increasing their appropriate verbal skills.

Sequential assessment of staff administration of contingency management procedures on a child psychiatric unit

This article is concerned with the assessment of staff adherence to behavior management contingencies on a child psychiatric unit using a staff-patient interaction coding system. The Coding System for Staff-Patient Interactions (CSSPI), which draws upon the parent-child coding system described by Forehand and McMahon (1981), documents up to 10 interactions between staff members and child patients in each 30-second observation interval. The CSSPI includes several staff antecedents, child behaviors, and staff consequences. In this study, the interactions of 31 staff members were observed. The reliability of measurement was established in an analogue setting and on the unit. Descriptive findings showed considerable variability in the rates of individual interactions and the consistency with which appropriate staff responses were made to child behavior. Predictors of staff behavior included work history and nursing stress variables. The implications of these findings for ongoing monitoring and modification of the therapeutic integrity of child psychiatric units is discussed.

An inventory to measure medical staff knowledge of behavioral methods with pediatric pain patients

An inventory is described for assessing medical staffs' knowledge of behavioral methods with pediatric pain patients. It was adapted from a measure designed by Sanders and Webster (1982) for use with nurses treating adult chronic pain patients. The modified inventory was administered to three groups of medical staff: (a) pediatric residents, (b) pediatric nurses and (c) medical students. A series of analyses provided data supporting the psychometric integrity of the inventory. The measure successfully discriminated trained from untrained staff. The utility of the instrument for staff assessment and development is discussed.

An inventory to measure knowledge of behavioral methods with inpatient adults

A 44-item multiple choice inventory designed to assess the knowledge of hospital staff in the use of behavioral methods with adult psychiatric inpatients is described. Data are presented to demonstrate adequate internal consistency, temporal stability and validity. Potential uses and limitations of the inventory are discussed.

An inventory to measure staff knowledge of behavioral methods with inpatient children and adolescents

A 35-item multiple choice inventory to assess inpatient staff's knowledge of behavioral methods with children and adolescents is described. The instrument appears to possess satisfactory content validity for basic behavioral principles and good internal consistency and reliability. It appears useful for research and staff inservice educational assessment in inpatient treatment settings where a measure of this type in needed. The inventory may also be useful in identifying newly employed staff who may benefit from behavioral training before assuming direct services roles on inpatient wards.