Training Parents in Positive Parenting Skills and

Direct Behavior Ratings

Sayward Harrison, MA/CAS

SCHOOL SYSTEMSchool Personnel Awareness

& Training

COMMUNITYParent Awareness

& Training

SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH CLINICDirect Services to the Child

(Counseling, Therapy, Behavioral Supports)

Healthy Child

Parents trained to alter child’s behavior at home

Based on behavioral & social learning principles (Skinner, Bandura)

Addresses multiple domains:e.g., child compliance, tantrums, enuresis,

eating disorders, hyperactivity, medical adherence

Targets multiple populations:e.g., preschoolers to adolescents, children

with autism, MR, LD, ADHD

Tend to focus on children ages 3-10 (Kazdin, 1997)

Seldom have addressed ethnic and cultural issues (Forehand & Kotchick, 1996)

Have neglected parents of adolescents

BUT…the teenage years are critical

An Evidence-Based Method for Parent Training

Compared to control groups, parent trainings which used VTM can produce significant behavioral change, including:Reduced child behavior problemsMore prosocial behaviorFewer incidents of spankingDecreased parental stressMore positive parent-child interactions

Initially conceptualized as parent training group

BUT…multiple community barriers!

Now Individual sessions with parents to train in behavioral management techniques and positive parenting skills Videotape modeling, didactic presentation,

coaching, practice & feedback, training in DBR…

Possible topics…Getting to Know and Connecting with your

TeenagerCommunicating Positively and EffectivelyEncouraging and Listening to your ChildEstablishing Rules and BoundariesTeaching Teenagers ResponsibilityPositive Discipline StrategiesDealing with ConflictSolving Problems Together

Pre- & Post-measures to assess changes in discipline strategies, perceived problems, communication, etc.

Direct Behavior Ratings (DBRs) to monitor & communicate, as well as intervention component

What is a DBR?

• DBR is a tool that involves brief rating of child’s behavior following a specified period of time (e.g., 45-minutes of math group work)

• DBR offers a defensible, flexible, repeatable, and efficient way to gather information about a child’s behavior

http://www.directbehaviorrating.com

4 steps:1. Specifying a target behavior2. Rating the behavior following a specified

observation period3. Sharing the obtained information across

individuals (e.g., parents, teachers, students)

4. Using the DBR outcome data to monitor the target behavior over time

Academically engaged is actively or passively participating in the classroom activity.

Examples: writing, raising hand, answering a question, talking about a lesson, listening to the teacher, reading silently, or looking at instructional materials.

Brief trainings utilizing practice & feedback to teach parents how to utilize DBR

Parents will be given a laminated, magnetized DBR standard form to hang on fridge

DBR

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Parents will use DBR to rate teen’s target behaviors following specified time (e.g., family dinner)

Will record DBR via text, email, or BASIS Will be given tokens as incentives for

use in the clinic store

During “check-in” portion of parent sessions, parents will receive feedback on DBR data, including graphs for visual assessment

DBR will be used to analyze changes in teen behavior over course of treatment

Chafouleas, S.M.; Riley-Tillman, T.C., & Sugai G. (2007). School Based Behavior Assessment: Informing Instruction and Intervention. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. 

Chafouleas, S.M.; Riley-Tillman, T.C., & McDougal, J. (2002). "Good, bad, or in-between: How does the daily behavior report card rate?". Psychology in the Schools 39: 157-169. 

Chafouleas, S.M.; Riley-Tillman, T.C., & Sassu, K.A. (2006). "Acceptability and reported use of Daily Behavior Report Cards among teachers". Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, (8): 174-182. 

Forehand, R. & Kotchick, B.A. (1996). Cultural diversity: A wake-up call for parent training. Behaviioral Therapy, 27, 187-206.

Kazdin, A. (1997). Parent management training: Evidence, outcomes, and issues. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(10), 1349–1356.

Riley-Tillman, T.C.; Chafouleas, S.M., & Eckert, T. (2008). "Daily Behavior Report Cards and Systematic Direct Observation: An Investigation of the Acceptability, Reported Training and Use, and Decision Reliability among School Psychologists". Journal of Behavioral Education.

Sharry, J., Guerin, S., Griffin, C., & Drumm, M. (2005). An evaluation of the Parents Plus Early Years Programme: A video-based early intervention for parents of pre-school children with behavioral and developmental difficulties. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 10(3), 319-336.

Webster-Stratton, C., Kolpacoff, M. & Hollinsworth, T. (1988). Self-administered videotape therapy for families with conduct-problem children: Comparison with two cost-effective treatments and a control group. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(4), 558-566.

Webster-Stratton, C., Hollinsworht, T., & Kolpacoff, M. (1989). The long-term effectiveness and clinical significance of three cost-effective training programs for families with conduct-problem children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57(4), 550-553.