An analysis of behavior management strategies used within parent-child interaction therapy to facilitate verbalizations by children with developmental disabilities
We examined the effects of the procedures recommended for interventions using the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) protocols on child verbalizations. The effects of the procedures of Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) were examined in a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design. Two seven-year-old participants with developmental disabilities and language delay experienced a baseline condition followed by two experimental conditions during a free play environment. A range of child toys were rotated systematically throughout the study. The total number of therapist-child interactions remained consistent across all experimental conditions. The experimenter received bug-in-the-ear feedback about her use of the therapy components in order to maintain similar interaction frequencies across the study. Only the topography of the interactions varied across conditions. During the first experimental condition the therapist used descriptive-labeled praise, behavior descriptions, and motor imitation of appropriate play. During the second experimental condition the therapist systematically added the use of reflections of child vocalizations. Within the non-concurrent design, total verbalizations, total different verbalizations, and mean length of utterance increased following the introduction of the first intervention condition. Total verbalizations and total different verbalizations increased further following the systematic introduction of reflections of child verbalizations
