Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Degree Granting Department

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Kimberly Crosland, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Committee Member

Catia Cividini-Motta, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Committee Member

Kwang-Sun Cho Blair, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Keywords

behavior-specific praise, video modeling, staff training, negative interactions

Abstract

Youth in residential care are often victims of maltreatment and are more likely to be revictimized. Residential facilities tend to be restrictive and punitive based, often implementing restraints as an intervention. Previous research has shown that a positive living climate is essential for increasing quality of life and meeting treatment goals. Building rapport between staff and youth can help promote a positive living climate and positively impact youth behavior. Behavior-specific praise (BSP) has been evaluated in school settings to increase student engagement and compliance. However, there has been limited research on the effects of increasing BSP in residential facilities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to (a) examine the use of behavioral skills training (BST) and tactile prompts to increase staff use of BSP, (b) evaluate if negative interactions decreased without specific training, and (c) evaluate if incident reports and restraints decreased, and if points earned by youth increased. Three mental health technicians in a local psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) participated in the study. The outcomes were evaluated using nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design. The results indicated that BST and tactile prompts effectively increased the use of BSP for all three staff participants and decreased negative interactions for two of these participants, without any training conducted to address or decrease negative interactions. Restraint reports, incident reports, and point sheet data remained similar across both phases.

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