The effect of nursing intervention on a program of behavior modification by parents in the home

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine if nursing intervention affects a program of behavior modification for neurologically impaired children carried out by parents in the home. Nine neurologically impaired subjects between the ages of two and four years were selected for programs of behavior modification by their parents at home. The nine subjects were randomly divided into an experimental and control group. The groups were generally matched for age and socioeconomic status. The four subjects in the experimental group were visited bi-weekly for a two-month period after the initial program was set up with changes, assessments and/or alterations made in the programs as necessary. The five subjects in the control group were visited at the beginning of the study to establish the programs of behavior modification the parents would implement. This group was not revisited until the end of the two-month period. The findings indicated a marked change in the subjects of the experimental group. This difference was significant on the basis of Wilcoxin Matched Pairs p. greater than .00003. In the control group only one child had any appreciable change in the specific target behavior, and it was not the desired goal.