"Booster Shots" Following Didactic Parent Training

Abstract

This study analyzed the effectiveness of a simple "booster" training procedure for refining a parent's skills in child management following a clinical training package. A mother was trained to use behavior management to increase the compliant behavior of her mentally retarded son. Training resulted in moderate but unstable improvements in the parent's use of child management techniques and in her child's response to them, with gradual deterioration in parent and child performance over sessions. Booster training, consisting of a single one-hour session, was then introduced sequentially in a multiple-baseline design for two parent skills. Parent and child behaviors improved substantially as a result of training, and follow-up data collected up to ten weeks later indicated that the improvements were maintained.