Education Commons^™

Behavior Problems In Toddlers With And Without Developmental Delays: Comparison Of Treatment Outcomes, Casey A. Holtz, Jennifer M. Carrasco, Ryan Mattek, Robert A. Fox

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of an in-home parent management program for toddlers with behavior problems and developmental delays by comparing outcomes for a group of toddlers with developmental delays (n = 27) and a group of toddlers without developmental delays (n = 27). The majority of children lived in single parent, low-income homes. Results suggest that the parent management program is equally effective for children with and without developmental delays. Parents from both groups reported clinically significant improvement in their children's behavior and parenting practices. Clinical implications regarding the importance of these …

Treatment Outcomes For Toddlers With Behaviour Problems From Families In Poverty, Robert A. Fox, Casey A. Holtz

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Background. Relatively few treatment studies address mental health issues in very young children. This study examined the effectiveness of a treatment program for toddlers whose behavior problems were further complicated by living in poverty.

Method. An empirically-validated treatment program was adapted for use in the homes of 102 toddlers for an average of 12 weekly sessions.

Results. Significant improvements were found for the children’s behavior problems and their compliance to parent requests.

Discussion. The inherent challenges in working with at-risk families and the challenges in delivering mental health services for very young children living in poverty are discussed.

Toddlers With Developmental Delays And Challenging Behaviors, Kathryn M. Keller, Robert A. Fox

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Behavior problems and parental expectations and practices were studied in a sample of 58 toddlers with developmental disabilities who were consecutively referred to a mental health clinic. The majority of children (70.7%) exceeded the clinical cut-off score for significant behavior problems including tantrums, aggression, defiance, and hyperactivity, and 77.6% met the DSM-IV criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis with oppositional defiant disorder being the most common. Consistent with previous research, child behavior problems were related to parental use of verbal and corporal punishment and were detrimental to the quality of the parent-child relationship. A new finding was that parental expectations also …

A Mental Health Clinic For Toddlers With Developmental Delays And Behavior Problems, Robert A. Fox, Kathryn M. Keller, Patricia L. Grede, Ann M. Bartosz

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

A mental health clinic was developed for toddlers with developmental disabilities and significant behavior problems from families living in poverty. The clinic was a collaborative effort between a community-based Birth-to-Three agency and a university. The purpose of this clinic was threefold: to provide direct mental health services for these young children, to train graduate students to work with this population, and to begin to contribute to the limited research available in this area. This paper describes the clinical intake procedures and outcomes for the 81 children served by the clinic over a 2-year period. Referral concerns included tantrums, aggression, oppositional …