Staff training using positive behavioural support: the effects of a one-day training on the attributions and attitudes of care staff who work with people with an intellectual disability and challenging behaviour

Abstract

There is little research on brief training for care staff who work with people with an intellectual disability who display challenging behaviour. Existing research has demonstrated mixed evidence for attributional change and little evidence in relation to attitude change. A one-day challenging behaviour training taking a Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) approach was investigated. Staff attributions and attitudes were measured at four time points (1 week before training, immediately before and after training and at 2-month follow-up). Following training, statistically significant changes in staff attributions and attitudes were recorded. These results suggest that brief training using PBS may be sufficient to change the attributions and attitudes of care staff towards clients with challenging behaviour so that they are able to offer more effective support.

Keywords:

• intellectual disabilities
• challenging behaviour
• brief training
• staff attributions
• staff attitudes