Multiple Measures to Evaluate Positive

¶ … multiple measures to evaluate positive behavior support: a case example," the authors Shelley Clark, Jonathan Worcester, Glen Dunlap, Marcey Murray, and Kathy Bradley-Klug examine the case of, Mindy, a 12-year-old severely disturbed student who routinely harmed herself during school as well as threatened to harm others. Before the behavior escalated to more violent behavior toward herself as well as others, positive behavior support (PBS) was utilized as an approach to see if Mindy would reduce the self-injurious behavior and violent and inappropriate outbursts and replace them with more appropriate responses. In this single-case investigation, the team sought to evaluate the effects of positive behavior support intervention with multiple measures specifically in the school context to not only analyze whether her problem behavior decreased but to see if positive behaviors such as engagement, happiness, and efficiency emerged in place of the plethora of negative activities that she was engaging in during the school day.

The article introduces the reader to the relatively new and evolving approach of PBS which is used for meeting the needs of individuals who have challenges related to adaptation of behavior. This approach began in the 1980's as a set of strategies to reduce serious problem behaviors. Overtime, PBS has evolved to not only include a reduction in the serious problem behavior but to replace it with lifestyle changes. As such, in evaluating a PBS case, one has to look to see if the violent or aggressive or problem or self-injurious behavior was reduced and was there a positive effect on the participants' overall relationships, productivity, opportunity, personal satisfaction, and affect.

The research article takes the reader through the steps of the PBS process from an introduction to Mindy whom exhibited a variety of aggressive and violent conduct during school which was beginning to have a profoundly negative impact on her classmates. Specifically, she engaged in biting, self-injurious behavior, throwing objects, kicking self and others, physical resistance, aggression, screaming at herself and others, and property destruction. The first step involved setting up a team and then establishing the procedures of the experiment itself. Next, a functional assessment of Mindy was done by examining descriptions of problem behavior, past school reports, direct observations, and interviews of school personnel and family. This assessment revealed that she engages in the negative activity as a means to escape activities she does not enjoy or find interesting. Accordingly, the team found the things that interested her and sought to incorporate those things into her schooling. Intervention took place along with implementation and observation of behaviors and a follow-up phase of six weeks. The behaviors observed directly were measured using a variety of scores and positive and negative adult interactions, child affect ratings, and a quality of life survey were gauged as well. The outcome revealed a significant difference in Mindy's behavior as a result of incorporating things that pleased Mindy and things that Mindy related to into the school environment along with an increase in positive praise.