Psychotropic drug use in a large Massachusetts public facility for mentally retarded adults was reduced to and maintained at approximately 20 percent over an eight-year period during which a monitoring and evaluation procedure (including interdisciplinary team review, identification of target behaviors, and concurrent alternative forms of…

Examined impact of creative parenting program in which parents (N=70) participated. Found the program was effective in changing parental behaviors on two dimensions; parents became more accepting of their children and relied less on parental authority in their relationship with their children. (Author/ABL)

Describes Project ADAPT, a drug treatment program for juvenile delinquents based on the Social Development Model which integrates knowledge of risk factors. Notes Project ADAPT combines behavioral skill training, supportive network development, and involvement in prosocial activities to facilitate community reentry of adolescents following…

Administered questionnaires to 63 pregnant nullipara to determine factors that may influence their decision to stop smoking following childbirth. Results revealed three factors which contributed equally to explaining variance: perceived self-efficacy, smoking habits during pregnancy, and attitude. Also found significant differences between…

In this study with three children (ages four and five) with severe developmental disabilities and aberrant behavior maintained by tangible positive reinforcement, noncontingent reinforcement, and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior were found to decrease the frequency of aberrant behavior while strengthening mands. (Author/DB)

Credit with Education provides poor women with small loans; a safe place for savings; and education in health, nutrition, and family planning. The strategy integrates financial and educational services to empower women toward self-sufficiency. (SK)

In semistructured interviews, 11 nursing students stated that they valued reflection as a means of learning, developing problem-solving skills, becoming personally and professionally aware, and improving patient care. Mental previewing techniques would be beneficial when starting new experiences. (SK)

A boy with severe mental retardation was unresponsive to his environment and spent 80% of his day body-rocking. Stereotyped body-rocking was greatly reduced via differential reinforcement of incompatible responding (DRI), physical restraint, and reprimand. (JDD)

Systematic curricular accommodations reduced the problem behaviors of four elementary students with behavioral disorders. Assessments identified student interests and curricular assignments associated with high levels of problem behavior. Curricular modification was then implemented. Results support adaptations that incorporate student interests…

A new approach to behavioral control with individuals having both visual impairments and multiple disabilities stresses the use of positive intervention strategies, bases treatment on functional assessments of challenging responses, and emphasizes broad changes in the lifestyles of individuals. Case examples illustrate applications. (Author/DB)

This article reviews the past research and principles for facilitating moral growth through group discussion and the theories of judgment-action discrepancies. An intervention model is suggested which utilizes actual moral misbehaviors as the basis for both moral discussion and behavioral intervention. (Author/DB)

This study examined effectiveness of posted numerical feedback on disruptive hallway behavior occurring among middle school students. Posting alone was found to have little effect on student behavior, but paired with verbal praise and feedback, posting was associated with more positive effects on student behavior and noise levels. (Author/PB)

An attempt to replicate previous studies showing a positive effect of antecedent exercise on problem behavior found no consistent changes in problem behaviors for six adults with severe mental retardation exposed to either daily jogging or leisure games (attention control). (Author/DB)

A literature review found that (1) innovations must be introduced into the community before physicians adopt them; (2) prerequisites of change include personal commitment, a conceptual base, multiple experiences, and multiple information sources; and (3) interventions to accelerate adoption are more successful if individualized and targeted. (SK)

A cognitive behavior management approach was used with an eight-year-old boy with congenital blindness who exhibited body rocking. Results suggest that body rocking could be significantly reduced by having the subject develop and use a self-monitoring script in conjunction with an alternate behavior to rocking. (JDD)