Most nurses experience lateral violence (LV) during their careers. LV can be detrimental to nurses' livelihoods and careers, to facilities due to nurse replacement costs, to the nursing profession due to attrition, and to patient safety. The purpose of this staff education project was to educate registered nurses on the issue of LV and to equip nurses to respond to their aggressors. The project question addressed whether education would increase awareness of LV and empower nurses to stand up to their aggressors. The theory of the nurse as the wounded healer, social learning theory, and the theory of reciprocal determinism guided this project. Pretest, posttest, and evaluation data were collected from 155 nurse participants who completed an online education module. Data were analyzed by calculating the change scores between pretests and posttests and by assessing the evaluation data based on the number of nurses who answered at the highest positive levels on a Likert-style scale. Results showed a 24.64% increase in awareness from the pretest to posttest. Evaluation data indicated that nurses felt they had a better understanding of LV, felt better equipped to confront their aggressors, were concerned about the incidence of LV in the workplace, and wanted further education. Findings may be used to support positive change through routine education on LV to enable nurses to identify LV behaviors and use strategies including cognitive rehearsal, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence to combat LV and change the culture of the nursing profession.

Identifying positive behavioral interventions for students who display disruptive behavior in the classroom has become a critical issue for schools due to the high frequency of these behaviors and recent changes in legislative requirements. To address this issue, the present study investigated the utility of brief experimental analysis approach as a means to identify the most efficient and effective interventions for three students displaying problem behaviors in the classroom. By using a multi-element design, the brief experimental analysis was conducted by randomly applying interventions for three common functions of problem behavior in the classroom: teacher attention, peer attention, and escape from task demand. Then, the effects of the most efficient and effective intervention on on-task, disruptive, and work completion behaviors were compared relative to a baseline condition over time. There were individual differences in responses to the intervention, but all students responded to at least one treatment. Further, an extended analysis of the alternative baseline conditions using a BAB design was applied that included a treatment phase with the hypothesized efficient and effective treatment and a baseline phase. Results showed that selected interventions decreased disruptive behavior and increased on-task and work completion for all three participants over time relative to baseline.

Research indicates that parental sources of knowledge (i.e., child disclosure, parental solicitation, and parental control) play a role in the occurrence of antisocial and other problem behaviors in childhood and adolescence. Because sources of knowledge have not been examined regarding the extent to which they are specifically related to change in disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) symptoms and no research has examined the influence of child symptom clusters of DBD on parental sources of knowledge, the current study longitudinally examined reciprocal relations between child disclosure, parental solicitation, and the DBD symptom clusters of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Participants were 89 children (56% males) recruited from a mid-sized southeastern community with ages ranging from 9-12 years (M = 10.4 years, SD = 1.1 years) at baseline. Results indicated that disclosure was negatively associated with both ODD and CD symptoms and solicitation was positively predictive of CD symptoms within time. However, associations were not maintained across time. Furthermore, disclosure and solicitation were unrelated to ADHD symptoms at baseline and across time. In turn, ODD symptoms were negatively related to child disclosure within as well as across time; however this association was only marginally statistically significant within time. ADHD and CD symptoms were unrelated to disclosure at both time points. Finally, only ODD symptoms were marginally statistically negatively related to parental solicitation within time, but no symptom clusters were associated with solicitation across time. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2003. / Title from title page of source document. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This study examined the efficacy of the Decision Model (Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, & Lane, 2007) for the development of function-based interventions for young children receiving special education services in inclusive preschool settings. Findings suggested interventions using the Decision Model were effective at decreasing the disruptive behavior of 3 young boys within inclusive early childhood classrooms. On-task behavior increased for each child following intervention implementation. Largest increases were noted with a 4.9 year-old with Autism and a 4 year-old with Down Syndrome. Data also suggested that the level of on-task behavior coincided with levels of intervention implementation. On-task behavior of a 3.9 year-old with language delay, demonstrated substantial increases when the intervention was implemented properly, but not when intervention elements were left out. Implications for future research were discussed.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 36 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2005. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 47 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Disruptive behavior problems are among the most commonly occurring forms of childhood psychopathology and show considerable stability beginning in early childhood. Investigations of the biological underpinnings of behavior problems have revealed that the influences of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system on cardiac functions are central to self-regulation. Parasympathetic regulation of heart rate is indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Suppression of RSA during challenging emotional and cognitive tasks is associated with better emotional and behavioral functioning in preschoolers. However, the relationship between RSA suppression and preschool social functioning is still unclear. Further, direct relationships between behavior problems and RSA reactivity within command-based play tasks (i.e., child instructed to build 3 towers) with parents and other adults have yet to be examined. The present study experimentally evaluated the relationship between child RSA reactivity and adult (mother vs. staff) commands requiring child compliance during command-based play tasks in children ages 3-8 with and without disruptive behavior disorders (N=43). Child RSA suppression in response to commands was examined as a predictor of child command compliance during experimental play tasks and of general child behavior problems, and was compared across command-based interactions with mothers versus staff. Less RSA suppression in the context of mothers’ play-based commands was associated with more severe behavioral problems (p=.046). In the context of staff play-based commands, more RSA suppression was associated with more severe behavior problems (p=.009), an effect that was significant only among boys (p<.000). Further, greater child RSA suppression predicted greater compliance with mother-given commands (p=.017), but was unrelated to compliance with staff-given commands. The relationship between child RSA suppression and compliance with mother-given commands was moderated by child age, such that the effect of RSA suppression on child compliance was stronger for younger children than older children. Findings suggest that RSA reactivity to social demands, and the functional association between RSA suppression and behavioral compliance, vary by social context (i.e., mother vs. other adult command-givers) and identify child factors (i.e., age, gender) that influence these associations. This work may inform efforts to identify a biomarker of early childhood behavior problems.

The Class Pass Intervention (CPI) is designed to be implemented within school-wide PBIS to decrease disruptive behavior and teach an appropriate replacement behavior for students needing Tier 2 intervention. The purpose of the present study was to extend the literature on the CPI by further evaluating the impact of the first component of the CPI on disruptive behavior and academic engagement of elementary school children with disabilities engaging in mild to moderate disruptive behavior. Three students and their respective teachers participated in the study. A multiple baseline across participants design with an embedded reversal was used to demonstrate the impact of the CPI on student behavior during a targeted problematic routine. The results indicated that the CPI was effective in decreasing disruptive behavior and increasing academic engagement for all participating students. Results were maintained for one participant while fading the magnitude of the intervention. Students and teachers rated CPI as effective and acceptable.

Research shows that children with disabilities are more likely engage in problem behaviors and have behavioral, social, and academic deficits in a school classroom than those children without disabilities (e.g., Owens et al., 2012; Pierce, Reid, & Epstein, 2004). Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRCs) have been found to improve disruptive behaviors, such as task refusal or calling out in class, of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, intellectual and developmental disorders and typically developing students; however, research evaluating the efficacy of DBRCs with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) is lacking. Studies also indicate that DBRCs can be effectively implemented by teachers (e.g., Taylor & Hill, 2017) and that peers can implement a variety of interventions with fidelity (e.g., Check in check out [CICO]; Collins, Gresham, & Dart, 2016). Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of DBRC, implemented by peers, on the behaviors of students at risk for EBD and whether peers can implement the intervention procedures with high integrity. The study used a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across three participants. In this study peer mediated DBRC led to a decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in appropriate behavior for all three target students who were at risk for EBD. The peer mediators also implemented the DBRC procedures with high integrity.