Running head: SINGLE SUBJECT RESEARCH DESIGN
Single Subject Research Design
Abstract
The following paper presents the use of an ABA single subject research design in evaluating a 16 year old foster youth’s behavior, and the use of an intervention on decreasing negative behavior and increasing positive behavior. Use of the ABA design, factors to be evaluated, treatment variables, implementation of the research design, data gathering, and data analysis are all discussed. Limitations of single subject research designs are also presented. Finally, graphed data is attached in the appendix.
Single Subject Research Design
Factors to be Evaluated
Halle is a 16-year-old female who currently resides in foster care. Over the past few
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After the 10 week counseling program was completed, the foster mother continued to collect data on cutting, episodes of anger and going for a walk when angry for four weeks. This served as the follow-up or second A period.
Data Analysis If behavior change occurred, the frequency of Halle’s cutting would be highest during the baseline phase, should decrease in the intervention phase, and the decrease in the behavior should continue or be maintained throughout the follow-up phase (Bloom, Fischer & Orme, 2006). The frequency of the walks should increase in the intervention phase and increase or be maintained during the follow-up phase, if the intervention was successful regarding this treatment variable (Bloom, Fischer & Orme). To analyze the data, first enter the data into an Excel spreadsheet. Baseline followed by treatment data would be entered in one column on the spreadsheet in order by week. Using the Excel functions, calculate the mean and standard deviation of the baseline. For cutting, the mean was 10.75, and the standard deviation 1.5. For walking, the mean was .75, and the standard deviation .95. Next, calculate the upper boundary by adding the mean and standard deviation, and the lower boundary by subtracting
(b) The data for this study came from a sample of 6,988 children enrolled at 21 elementary schools that participated in a randomized trial of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS). This trial specifically included data on instances of
Dorsey, S., Pullmann, M. D., Berliner, L., Koschmann, E., McKay, M., & Deblinger, E. (2014). Engaging foster parents in treatment: A randomized trial of supplementing Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with evidence-based engagement strategies. Child abuse & neglect, 38(9), 1508-1520.
There can be cultural, ethical, and legal concerns associated with this theory are somewhat intertwined. The possible assumption that if a child is born poor, of ethnic minority, raised in a violent setting, and neglected by parents – foster care placement may lead to disruption within the child’s chronosystem. This can lead to attachment issues related to trauma, increased fight or flight reactions that may lead to legal issues, academic challenges, and poor social skills. There is a possible ripple effect from life events and socioeconomic status that could lead to changes with behavior in association with the child’s environment. Understanding this theory can help with application in a school setting
When a student who has a disability’s educational placement is changed due to challenging behavior, a functional behavior assessment must be conducted. Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is used to aid in the development of behavior intervention plans (BIP’s). In a functional assessment, the type and the source of reinforcement for problem behaviors are used as a basis for intervention efforts that are designed to increase occurrence. Functional analysis can also be used to determine the specific function of a behavior, but FBA’s are more commonly used, especially in school settings. In a functional analysis (FA), antecedents and consequences that represent those in the person’s natural environment are arranged so that their effects on the problem behavior can be observed and measured. The difference between a functional analysis and functional behavior assessment is that the assessment establishes a connection between the behavior and antecedent or the consequent variables, but a functional analysis identifies informal relationships. For this reason, a functional analysis is seen to be a more valid tool for identifying the function of a behavior; however, there are limitations to using a functional analysis. This method may momentarily strengthen the problem behavior or result in the behavior acquiring new functions. Federal mandates like IDEA 2004 and school reforms such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) have played a role in the increase of the
Research instruments for children must be objective, completed in a familiar setting, and not time-limited (Ray et al., 2010). The social worker believed the incident reports fit the specified criteria and would reduce bias in the evaluation because the foster parents were accustomed to using them. The social worker also chose to not tell Christine about the evaluation, because she wanted the intervention to be the only thing that influenced Christine’s behavior. The behavioral incident reports used in the single subject research design were ones that pertained to Christine not following the house rules, making impulsive decisions, and having poor boundaries with male peers.
The chosen population of interest for the course project is children who are placed in foster care. Children in foster care are considered vulnerable due to a variety of reasons for which they are taken away from home and placed in the child welfare system. Foster care children are often removed from their home due to physical abuse, drug exposure, or in some cases due to parental inability to fulfill the child basic necessities. Foster care children are at greater risk of mental, health, and behavioral problems (Lovie, Beadnell, & Pecora, 2015). Case management is an essential part of the care plan to improve the outcomes of the population of interest. Foster care children face additional problems when the health care system is inadequate.
Problem behavior in the foster children was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), which measures the domains of behavior problems and social competence in children. The results of this questionnaire were calculated into three scores: an Internalizing score, an Externalizing score, and a Total Problem score. The results of the study showed that there was a negative correlation with positive parenting and problem behavior. When foster mothers showed their foster children positive parenting styles, such as involvement with the child, there were less signs of problem behavior observed in the foster child. On the other hand, factors such as discipline, harsh punishment, and negative control were positive correlated. If foster mothers showed an increase in these factors in their parenting, there were more signs of problem behavior observed in the foster child. In using negative parenting strategies, this breaks the positive relationship wth the foster child, thus increasing problem behavior. Because of the age groups of the children in the study, these findings may be applicable towards both children in foster care as well as those children who are not in foster care. Even with these strengths, there are limitations to this study. The design is the first limitation. The longitudinal design of this study, as well as the modest radius of the subject pool, made for this to be
Children suffer significantly until someone decides to protect them. The government allocates funds to establish the foster care system and that system advances to enforce rights for children. When the right to remove children from an abusive situation first originated, the foster care system established a separation procedure for children from their abusive homes. This act of removing children from their families brought about psychological issues and trauma. Throughout earlier years, the foster care system adjusted their program according to the rules and regulations established to provide for the needs of children. However, problems keep appearing elsewhere. These children endure the brunt of every new philosophy in behavioral health management. Often, the biological parents will be left out of the solution. The foster care system develops services to train foster families in caring for foster children and behavioral issues. For some reason, the foster care system believes improvement simpler to reform the children and makes a trivial attempt of the reformation with family. The foster care system needs to try to achieve bonds within the biological family instead of the sole reliability on removal of children to be an adequate answer. The foster care system’s obligation should be to develop a training system for the rehabilitation of families and offer support to achieve the greatest outcome in child rearing. Foster care needs to adapt to supporting families emotionally,
In this week application I going to describe the professional or societal issue that I selected for this first week assignment which is Children in foster care: A vulnerable population at risk. But the problem is biggest when children faces those who ‘age out’ of foster care what are does pro and con of facing another part of the world along. How those children get affected with the change in their lives and how independent they could be to start a big a change like and how challenges they will faces. I would describe the professional or societal issue and I will also explain how the issue arouses my passion as a human services professional. One way to manage the goal in terms of social change, leadership, and advocacy related to the foster care children age out. I will also going to explain how will achieve each goal and how might impact the profession and society those children.
The goal of my research will be to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of the proactive and positive school-wide behavior management program in regards to the impact it has had on the number of student discipline referrals at my school, Otter Creek Middle School, a middle school within the Vigo County School Corporation in Terre Haute,
Over 600,000 children in the United States are in the foster care system. Reasons include, abuse, neglect and abandonment. These children lack nurturing environments and stable homes. Children within the foster care system have more mental, physical and developmental problems. It is imperative to understand the challenges children entering the foster care system are exposed to. The system works best when children are provided nurturing, and short-term care until they can be placed back home safely or a permanent adoptive family. For many children, however, the stay is longer, with 30% remaining in temporary care for over two years. Staying in the system is detrimental to the child’s well-being. The foster care system is an unsuccessful intervention for children that cultivates development, health and mental issues.
Bi] List five possible outcomes for children and young people that practitioners should be striving to achieve, giving a brief description of each one.
One of this disadvantages of foster care, is there is an instability in the system. At times social workers are unaware that the placement of the child was ruled in court for the return of the child to their parents. Another disadvantage is that the transitory environment of the foster placements has been a problematic component in the child welfare system (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 316). Some children already experience attachment issues prior to removal from their home. These issues will further advance and creating more problems with the child. Since foster care is a temporary environment for the child, children may adjust to this temporary placement only to be removed and either return home or be placed with another temporary family. These transitions effect the child’s behaviors and emotions. The goal is to provide the child permanency. However, the foster care system is not meant to
The study consisted of 12 parents who foster children ages 2-8 years old. The high levels of conduct problems among children in the foster care system and the added cost to families, society and services, there is a pressing need to support foster parents. Providing foster care to children with increased emotional, behavioral, and medical needs requires not only time, but patience in dealing with the child’s demands. Foster parents often voice they are unprepared to meet demand of children with increased behavioral and emotional needs and adolescents in their care. This situation can result in placement disruption, which further strains foster care resources and has negative impacts on foster children and youth. The incidence of conduct disorder
It is well know that foster Children have a very hard time finding a permanent home and adjusting to their new home. The majority of foster children go through this process of finding a home at a very young age. For most of these children it occurs during very young age which is the most important time for develop mental processes. Therefore foster children are at risk of cognitive and social- emotional development delays. (Jacobson et. al 2013). As mentioned in the article “research has underscored the importance of early, nurturing caregiver environments on brain development, and the importance of positive brain-environment interaction during the first 2 years of life has also been documented by research on foster care and adoption”(Jacobson et. al 2013). The article currently looks at, specifically the issue of foster children’s cognitive development and social- emotional functioning specifically of children ages between 2 to 3 years of age. There has been previous research done on this article. A research done to look at this issue was one done in Romanian were 136 institutionalized children were randomly selected. These children were selected to continue to be institutionalized or placed in foster care. In this study, the foster parents were selected and trained,