Reducing Disruptive Behaviors in Students with Serious Emotional Disturbance

Abstract

A multicomponent intervention that included a precision request program, mystery motivators, token economy with response cost, and antecedent strategies (i.e., public posting of classroom rules and teacher movement) was employed to reduce disruptive classroom behavior in 3 school-aged students with social and emotional disorders. The study employed a multiple baseline design across individuals. The results suggested that the intervention was successful in reducing levels of disruptive behaviors for all students. Baseline data indicated that, on average, students were disruptive in 37% of observed intervals. This diminished to an average of 10% during the intervention phase. In the follow-up phase, disruptive intervals remained at an average of 10%.