Provide instruction in behavior modification

Outcome

Self-Regulation

Intervention Family

Family Relations and Parenting Skills Interventions

Provide Instruction in Behavior Modification

Evidence

The five family relations and parenting skills interventions that used positive reinforcement combined with positive and negative punishmentshowed greater improvements in children’s self-regulation than those that did not include either of these techniques or only included positive reinforcement.

Behavior modification focuses directly on shaping behavior rather than on changing the thoughts, feelings, or other factors that may be causing the undesired behaviors. Teaching and coaching parents on how to use certain behavior modification techniques with their children can help improve children’s self-regulation and other behaviors related to school success and overall well-being. The parenting programs in our evidence base that had the most success used a combination of behavior modification strategies, rather than just one. Specifically, they used “positive and negative punishment” combined with “positive reinforcement.” In the language of operant conditioning in psychology, “positive punishment” means introducing negative consequences to discourage a child’s undesirable behavior. Common examples include soft reprimands and adding chores. “Negative punishment” means removing something the child values to discourage an undesirable behavior. Examples include taking away games, electronic devices, internet, or television, providing the child a short break from the situation in a safe and supportive space, or ignoring/removing the parent’s attention. “Positive reinforcement,” on the other hand, is when you provide something the child values to encourage and reinforce a desired behavior – such as praise and attention, extra privileges, or other rewards.

Training parents to use multiple behavior modification strategies is particularly effective. For example, one program coached parents on how to give positive attention to encourage certain behaviors, as well as how to ignore other behaviors during a play session. Others taught parents how to implement token reward systems alongside time-out strategies. Parents may find that using only negative consequences like taking away privileges becomes ineffective over time, as does using only positive reinforcement. Successful shaping of desired behaviors and deterring problem behaviors happens through consistently applying a combination of negative consequences and rewards at the right time.

Box 1. Examples of Behavior Modification Strategies

Goal: Discourage behavior

  • Positive Punishment | Negative Punishment
  • Adding chores | Taking away a favorite game or toy
  • Writing an apology |Ignoring; removing parent's attention
  • Soft repimand |Taking away recess or playdate

Goal: Encourage behavior

  • Positive Reinforcement
  • Praise, attention
  • Points, gold stars, other tokens to be traded for a reward
  • Extra play time or screen time

Assess Feasibility

  • Current content..
    Assess the extent to which your program already covers behavior modification. See Box 1 for examples of these strategies.
  • Current program structure.
    Assess whether there is room to add this content to your curriculum or program guidance. Where would it fit? Would you need to add sessions, change the format, or increase time spent on this relative to other content?
  • Funding requirements.
    Are there funding constraints on what content must be delivered? Is there flexibility to modify content?
  • Resources.
    Review current resources. What might need to be added or shifted to accommodate content changes?
  • Organizational and staff readiness.
    Engage your team to determine the type of support they will need to deliver this content. What kind of training or resources do they need to implement these changes to content? What new materials might need to be developed?
  • Staffing
    Teaching behavior modification techniques to parents requires special training and knowledge of how and when to apply these techniques in real-life situations and help parents troubleshoot challenges. Assess whether your current staff have the necessary qualifications to teach these techniques, and whether you may need to bring in a behavior modification specialist to provide the services and/or train other staff.

Take Action

Consider any of the following depending on the results of your feasibility assessment:

  • Identify behavior modification expertswho specialize in parenting. These experts can provide in-service training to your organization and team to learn effective practices for teaching behavior modification to parents.
  • Revise program manuals or internal guidanceand staff training and professional development content to cover behavior modification.
  • As needed, develop program materials, handouts, homework assignments, and other learning supports to help parents engage with the new material.
  • Engage parents in planning. to ensure the content is parent-focused and designed to meet their needs.