The effects of parental involvement for children who are diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders

Abstract

Current literature regarding children with emotional and behavioral disorders contains vast amounts of information. Existing research focuses on triggering mechanisms for such disabilities, possible intervention tactics for addressing in-school issues, home environments as influencing factors, and parenting skills of those parents whose children misbehave. The process of involving family members in the educational and behavior management programs for students with emotional and behavioral disorders has received limited exploration. This study, therefore, focused on the process of training parents and students to deal effectively with behavioral outbursts at school and at home. Pretest data provided foundational knowledge of student behavior prior to the implementation of the intervention. The training process occurred over a ten-week period, with hourly sessions scheduled weekly. At the conclusion of the intervention process, a posttest evaluation was completed. The goal of this study was to evaluate student behavior, measure any and all changes that occurred during this process, and establish any possible correlations that may have existed between pre- and posttest scores.

Pre-intervention checklists were completed by all parent and student participants during the first session to establish a baseline knowledge regarding student behaviors of concern. The Learning and Behavior Problem Checklist (Wunderlich, 1993) was used as an assessment tool. All of the checklists were scored manually and the information stored on the computer for easy access during future reference. Codes were assigned for each participant to maintain confidentiality throughout the study.

Following the initial evaluation, the training process began. The Truthought Corrective Thinking Process (Yochelson, 1999) provided the materials utilized in each lesson. Participants attended ten, one-hour training sessions designed to teach and implement this behavior management program. Any changes in behavior noted throughout the study were recorded so that the researcher could examine underlying behavioral patterns that may surface.

When the ten-week training program was completed, all participants completed a second LBPC (Wunderlich, 1993). The purpose in collecting post-intervention data was to measure change. These checklists were scored and recorded in the same manner as the pretest data. Finally, a correlational comparison was completed between pre- and posttest data to reveal any patterns of behavioral changes that may have resulted.