Toward An Ecological Unit Of Analysis In Behavioral Assessment And Intervention With Families Of Children With Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this chapter is to present our work and that of colleagues in the field of positive behavior support (PBS) (Carr et al., 2002; Koegel, Koegel, Dunlap, 1996) on the development of an empirically grounded ecological unit of analysis for behavioral assessment and intervention with families of children with developmental disabilities and severe problem behavior. Our aim is to provide practitioners and families with an empirical foundation for the design of comprehensive PBS plans in family contexts that are likely to be acceptable to family members, implemented by family members with fidelity, effective at improving the behavior and quality of life of the child and family, sustainable within the family ecology, and durable across a long period of time. This work has been guided by one central question: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for the design of survivable positive behavior interventions in family contexts? In collaboration with parents of children with developmental disabilities and severe problem behavior, we have empirically investigated a unit of analysis—coercive processes in family routines—that has served as the organizing center of our research and practice with families. In the first half of the chapter, we define the problem and need; describe an ecological unit of analysis that integrates child behavior, parent-child interaction, and family activity settings (routines); and summarize assessment and intervention research that validates key components of the ecological model. In the second half of the chapter, we briefly summarize our current longitudinal research with families of children with developmental disabilities in which we have been investigating the validity of the ecological unit of analysis for transforming coercive processes in family routines. Following this summary, we discuss five implications of our research for assessment and intervention in natural family contexts in collaboration with family members.