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Determinants of caregivers' negative emotional reactions and causal beliefs about self-injurious behaviour: an experimental study

Determinants of caregivers' negative emotional reactions and causal beliefs about self-injurious behaviour: an experimental study
Determinants of caregivers' negative emotional reactions and causal beliefs about self-injurious behaviour: an experimental study
Background?
Caregivers' emotional and cognitive reactions to challenging behaviours have been identified as potential determinants of their reinforcing responses towards such behaviours. However, few studies have explored factors affecting caregivers' emotional and cognitive responses to challenging behaviours. Methods?
Sixty students inexperienced in work with people with challenging behaviours and 60 experienced staff watched one of two carefully matched, acted videotapes depicting self-injury maintained by attention or escape-from-task demands. The participants were also told whether the self-injury depicted typically led to mild or severe consequences for the person filmed. The subjects completed measures of their negative emotional reactions to the self-injury and their behavioural causal beliefs about the behaviour depicted. Results?
Analyses of variance revealed that students reported more negative emotional reactions and were less likely to endorse behavioural causal hypotheses. Those who watched the severe self-injury videotape also reported more negative emotional reactions. Two effects of the behavioural function of the depicted self-injury were also found: (1) attention-maintained self-injury was associated with higher levels of endorsement of behavioural causal hypotheses; and (2) severe attention-maintained self-injury led to the strongest negative emotional reactions, but only from students. Conclusions?
The effects of experience and behavioural function on emotional reactions and behavioural causal beliefs need to be explored in more detail in future research. If replicated, the present results have significant implications for theory and practice in the remediation of challenging behaviours and the support of care staff.
attributions, causal beliefs, challenging behaviour, emotional reactions, experimental study, self-injurious behaviour, staff
0964-2633
59-67
Hastings, R.P.
7c2e6f17-c5e8-47bc-baff-137dd6ce9f9a
Tombs, A.K.H.
feb0c342-4248-4e26-a295-3d4445225cff
Monzani, L.C.
8a4d5099-6372-4b5f-a601-5f897c059446
Boulton, H.V.N.
8374fa4e-c88c-4e9e-b394-0fb036da6642
Hastings, R.P.
7c2e6f17-c5e8-47bc-baff-137dd6ce9f9a
Tombs, A.K.H.
feb0c342-4248-4e26-a295-3d4445225cff
Monzani, L.C.
8a4d5099-6372-4b5f-a601-5f897c059446
Boulton, H.V.N.
8374fa4e-c88c-4e9e-b394-0fb036da6642

Hastings, R.P., Tombs, A.K.H., Monzani, L.C. and Boulton, H.V.N. (2003) Determinants of caregivers' negative emotional reactions and causal beliefs about self-injurious behaviour: an experimental study. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 47 (1), 59-67. (doi:10.1046/j.1365-2788.2003.t01-1-00456.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background?
Caregivers' emotional and cognitive reactions to challenging behaviours have been identified as potential determinants of their reinforcing responses towards such behaviours. However, few studies have explored factors affecting caregivers' emotional and cognitive responses to challenging behaviours. Methods?
Sixty students inexperienced in work with people with challenging behaviours and 60 experienced staff watched one of two carefully matched, acted videotapes depicting self-injury maintained by attention or escape-from-task demands. The participants were also told whether the self-injury depicted typically led to mild or severe consequences for the person filmed. The subjects completed measures of their negative emotional reactions to the self-injury and their behavioural causal beliefs about the behaviour depicted. Results?
Analyses of variance revealed that students reported more negative emotional reactions and were less likely to endorse behavioural causal hypotheses. Those who watched the severe self-injury videotape also reported more negative emotional reactions. Two effects of the behavioural function of the depicted self-injury were also found: (1) attention-maintained self-injury was associated with higher levels of endorsement of behavioural causal hypotheses; and (2) severe attention-maintained self-injury led to the strongest negative emotional reactions, but only from students. Conclusions?
The effects of experience and behavioural function on emotional reactions and behavioural causal beliefs need to be explored in more detail in future research. If replicated, the present results have significant implications for theory and practice in the remediation of challenging behaviours and the support of care staff.

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More information

Published date: 1 January 2003
Keywords: attributions, causal beliefs, challenging behaviour, emotional reactions, experimental study, self-injurious behaviour, staff

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 56902
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/56902
ISSN: 0964-2633
PURE UUID: 5a711508-2a76-45cf-bc01-06aa6b3be98e

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Date deposited: 21 Aug 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 11:04

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Contributors

Author: R.P. Hastings
Author: A.K.H. Tombs
Author: L.C. Monzani
Author: H.V.N. Boulton

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