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EVALUATION OF A PARENT‐TRAINING MANUAL FOR REDUCING CHILDREN'S FEAR OF THE DARK
Author(s) -
Giebenhain Jean E.,
O'Dell Stan L.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1984.17-121
Subject(s) - psychology , bedroom , set (abstract data type) , multiple baseline design , reinforcement , developmental psychology , systematic desensitization , clinical psychology , audiology , anxiety , psychiatry , medicine , intervention (counseling) , social psychology , civil engineering , computer science , engineering , programming language
We evaluated the effectiveness of a manual to teach parents how to help their children overcome fear of the dark. The primary components of the package included desensitization, reinforcement, and verbal self‐control statements. Six fearful children ages 3–11 and their parents participated. A multiple‐baseline design across three pairs of matched subjects was used. Outcome measures consisted of the level of nighttime illumination voluntarily set by the child on a rheostat installed in the bedroom and the child's subjective rating of his or her fear level during the night. The data indicated that all children were sleeping all night with the rheostat set at criterion level or lower within 2 weeks after initiation of treatment, without any report of fear. Follow‐up measures at 3, 6, and 12 months showed that all children maintained or improved on the reduced fear behaviors achieved during the treatment.