ACCEPTABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS FOR DEVIANT CHILD BEHAVIOR

TLDR

The study evaluated the acceptability of alternative treatments for deviant child behavior in two experiments. Undergraduate students reviewed clinical cases with four treatments—reinforcement of incompatible behavior, time‑out, drug therapy, and electric shock—in a replicated Latin square design, and the authors developed an assessment device to rate acceptability and test the effects of case severity. Treatments were sharply differentiated in acceptability, with reinforcement of incompatible behavior rated highest, followed by time‑out, drug therapy, and electric shock; case severity modestly increased acceptability but had a smaller influence than the treatment type.

Abstract

The acceptability of alternative treatments for deviant child behavior was evaluated in two experiments. In each experiment, clinical cases were described to undergraduate students along with four different treatments in a Replicated Latin Square Design. The treatments included reinforcement of incompatible behavior, time out from reinforcement, drug therapy, and electric shock and the treatments were described as they were applied to children with problem behaviors. Experiment 1 developed an assessment device to evaluate treatment acceptability and examined whether treatments were rated as differentially acceptable. Experiment 2 replicated the first experiment and examined whether the severity of the presenting clinical problem influenced ratings of acceptability. The results indicated that treatments were sharply distinguished in overall acceptability. Reinforcement of incompatible behavior was more acceptable than other treatments which followed, in order, time out from reinforcement, drug therapy, and electric shock. Case severity influenced acceptability of alternative treatments with all treatments being rated as more acceptable with more severe cases. However, the strength of case severity was relatively small in relation to the different treatment conditions themselves which accounted for large portions of variance.