Background: Intrusive interventions, once implemented, may remain in place longer than necessary unless their continued effectiveness is evaluated. Method: We conducted a phased timeout-evaluation for 34 individuals with developmental disabilities who received services from the same agency and whose treatment programmes contained timeout for…

We demonstrate the effectiveness of a procedure to increase compliance in young children who are resistant to Time-out (TO). Parents of two boys, 3 and 4 years of age, were unable to enforce TO without resorting to physical guidance and restraint. With deferred TO (DTO), if a child resists TO, caregivers no longer interact with the child or…

Behavior modification is an evidence-based treatment for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Time-out from positive reinforcement is one behavior-modification procedure commonly recommended to manage disruptive or noncompliant behavior. This investigation examined the effects of time-out on children's behavior within the…

Two procedures were compared for reducing violent or aggressive theme play of six preschool children with behavior disorders and five normally developing peers. Contingency statements followed by a modified time-out produced consistently lower rates of violent theme play than did verbal prompts to engage in more appropriate types of play.…