Teachering Protective Skills to Address Risk Factors Associated with Emerging Problem Behavior

A common approach to prevention aims to proactively teach skills suited to specific situations commonly correlated with emerging problem behavior. However, an alternative approach may teach skills that generalize to various situations found to influence problem behavior (protective effect). The current study aimed to extend previous prevention programs by evaluating the efficacy of an approach to teach skills and evaluate protective effects that address challenging situations associated with emerging problem behavior. Teaching and protective effects were assessed with 4 children using a multiple probe design across challenging situations. The results suggest protective skills are needed to address situations that are composed of demands and the removal of reinforcers. We discuss considerations to further evaluate procedures and improve the efficacy and social validity of a protective program