4 research outputs found
Self-control interventions for children under age 10 for improving self-control and delinquency and problem behaviors
Self-control improvement programs are intended to serve many purposes, most
notably improving self-control. Yet, interventions such as these often aim to reduce
delinquency and problem behaviors. However, there is currently no summary
statement available regarding whether or not these programs are effective in
improving self-control and reducing delinquency and problem behaviors. The main objective of this review is to assess the available research evidence on the
effect of self-control improvement programs on self-control and delinquency and
problem behaviors. In addition to investigating the overall effect of early selfcontrol
improvement programs, this review will examine, to the extent possible, the
context in which these programs may be most successful. The studies included in this systematic review indicate that self-control
improvement programs are an effective intervention for improving self-control and
reducing delinquency and problem behaviors, and that the effect of these programs
appears to be rather robust across various weighting procedures, and across context,
outcome source, and based on both published and unpublished data
Establishing the Feasibility of Direct Observation in the Assessment of Tics in Children with Chronic Tic Disorders
Behavior analysis has been at the forefront in establishing effective treatments for children and adults with chronic tic disorders. As is customary in behavior analysis, the efficacy of these treatments has been established using direct-observation assessment methods. Although behavior-analytic treatments have enjoyed acceptance and integration into mainstream health care practices for tic disorders (e.g., psychiatry and neurology), the use of direct observation as a primary assessment tool has been neglected in favor of less objective methods. Hesitation to use direct observation appears to stem largely from concerns about the generalizability of clinic observations to other settings (e.g., home) and a lack of consensus regarding the most appropriate and feasible techniques for conducting and scoring direct observation. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate and establish a reliable, valid, and feasible direct-observation protocol capable of being transported to research and clinical settings. A total of 43 children with tic disorders, collected from two outpatient specialty clinics, were assessed using direct (videotape samples) and indirect (Yale Global Tic Severity Scale; YGTSS) methods. Videotaped observation samples were collected across 3 consecutive weeks and two different settings (clinic and home), were scored using both exact frequency counts and partial-interval coding, and were compared to data from a common indirect measure of tic severity (the YGTSS). In addition, various lengths of videotaped segments were scored to determine the optimal observation length. Results show that (a) clinic-based observations correspond well to home-based observations, (b) brief direct-observation segments scored with time-sampling methods reliably quantified tics, and (c) indirect methods did not consistently correspond with the direct methods