Home-Based Treatment of Severe Disruptive Behaviors: A Reinforcement Package for Preschool and Kindergarten Children

A home-based reinforcement package was implemented to decrease serious disruptive and aggressive behaviors in three groups of six pre-school and kindergarten-age children, who participated across successive summers in an intensive nine-week remedial program. For each group, the effectiveness of experimental treatment was evaluated in a multiple baseline design across three target behaviors: off-area, physical aggression, and negative statements. Results showed that the home-based package was highly effective for all target responses of all children in the first two groups, but failed to modify disruptive responses of two children in the third group. Potential explanations for the discrepant results, as well as supplementary findings on untreated variables and some individual treatment components, are discussed.