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theses

Individuals with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) may present with challenging, externalizing behaviors, often times as a consequence of communication or sensory difficulties (Singh et al., 2006b; Harper, Webb, & Rayner, 2013). However, dually diagnosed individuals (i.e., those with comorbid psychiatric disorders) are at even greater risk for these high intensity, disruptive behaviors (Singh et al., 2007b). These behavior disruptions severely limit individuals’ community engagement, independence, and social relationships (Harper et al., 2013) and create “bidirectional transactions” in which staff and clients negatively reciprocally influence each other serving to maintain disruptive behavior (Singh, Lancioni, Winton, Karazsia, & Singh, 2013, p. 213). Staff who are caregivers for individuals with dual diagnoses report emotional and physical stress and are at particular risk for burn-out (Whitebird et al., 2012; Creswell, Pacilio, Lindsay, & Brown, 2014). Staff who are taught mindfulness-based interventions have demonstrated an increase in happiness and quality of life as caregivers, and are able to focus energy on making internal changes within themselves rather than seeking to control the behavior of others (Singh et al. as cited in Minor et al., 2006, p. 95). There is further evidence (Harper et al., 2013) that intervening with staff is just as effective as direct intervention with clients. The current study was an assessment of mindfulness training and practice by day-program staff of dually diagnosed adult clients and the subsequent effects on their clients' behavior. A multiple baseline design was utilized to implement a mindfulness-based intervention to three day-program staff and the behavior of their corresponding clients was measured. Results of the visual analysis of changes in client behavior suggest that mindful staff lead to improvements in client behavior. For all three clients, rates of identified target behaviors dropped as their corresponding staff participated in mindfulness training and practice. Recommendations and implications for psychologists are provided.

ETD_9546

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-6er9-3984

ETD doctoral

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