Effect of a Classroom-Based Behavioral Intervention Package on the Improvement of Children’s Sitting Posture in Japan

The present study evaluates the effect of a classroom-based behavioral intervention package to improve Japanese elementary school children’s sitting posture in regular classrooms (N = 68). This study uses a multiple-baseline design across two classrooms with a modified repeated reversal within each class. The article defines appropriate sitting posture as behavior composed of four components (feet, buttocks, back, and a whole body). The intervention package includes modeling, correspondence training, prompt, and reinforce-ment, among others. The authors counted the number of children with appro-priate sitting posture in each classroom across all 28 sessions throughout the study. Interobserver agreement of appropriate sitting posture ranged from 80% to 100%. As a result of the intervention, the mean proportion of children with appropriate posture increased from approximately 20 % to 90%. In addition, their academic writing productivity increased with the improved sitting pos-ture. Teachers ’ acceptance of the intervention program proved to be excellent