A Brief Social Skills Intervention to Reduce Challenging Classroom Behavior

Abstract

Social skills instruction has been recommended as a way of improving behavioral and social outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A brief social skills intervention (Stop and Think (Knoff in The stop & think social skills program, Sopris West, Longmont, CO, 2001) was used to extend the current literature base for students with EBD. A multiple-baseline across classrooms design was used to examine negative social behavior of five participants attending a self-contained school setting for students with challenging behavior. The primary intervention components included: (a) teach, (b) model, (c) role play, and (d) performance feedback. Specific social skills addressed in intervention were listening, using nice talk, accepting consequences, ignoring others, and following directions. Participants were taught to use a 5-step process for each social skill: (1) stop and think, (2) identify good and bad choices, (3) identify steps to performing the good choice, (4) implement steps, and (5) reflect on the good choice you made. Results indicated students benefitted from 12 sessions of explicit social skills instruction as evidenced by decreases in negative social behavior. Social behavior improvements maintained during 2-week follow-up observations. Decreasing negative social behaviors is important in improving general social and behavioral outcomes as well as demonstrating growth toward being prepared to transition back to less restrictive environments. Limitations, recommendations for future research, and practice implications are discussed.