An evaluation of parents as behavior change agents in the Preschool Life Skills program

Abstract

Parental involvement in intervention can support intervention efficacy, improve generalization, and increase accessibility. The Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program is designed to teach 13 preschool life skills and prevent problem behavior. The current study explores the utility of the PLS program as delivered by parents. In Experiment 1, 6 parents were taught to use the PLS program at home with their typically developing children (3 years 3 months to 4 years 11 months). This application of the PLS program led to an increase in preschool life skills and a decrease in problem behavior and supported some generalization of the target preschool life skills from the home to preschool settings. In Experiment 2, 7 parents were taught to use the PLS program with their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; 3 years 11 months to 6 years 9 months). Results overall supported the parent implementation of the program and highlighted modifications required to support positive outcomes for children with ASD.

Evaluating the generality and social acceptability of early friendship skills

“…Teaching in contexts where prosocial skills are likely to occur increases the likelihood that generalization will be observed at home, school, and during playdates. As suggested by Gunning et al (2020), the generality of the skills across contexts can be bolstered through caregiver implementation of PLS. Although the outcomes of Gunning et al with the friendship unit were modest, skill acquisition may be improved by including a more stringent mastery criterion or increasing the number of learning opportunities, as in the current study.…”

“…Although multiple studies have replicated and extended the first three units of PLS (Fahmie & Luczynski, 2018;Falligant & Pence, 2017;Gunning et al, 2020;Robison et al, 2020), the friendship unit has been understudied. Additional evaluations of the friendship unit are warranted because modest outcomes were achieved in the initial and subsequent replication of the classwide application (Hanley et al, 2007;2014).…”

Important skills for elementary school children: Implementing the preschool life skills program in Iceland

“…Future research on PLS should focus on how to teach preschool teachers to implement PLS in their classroom and on procedures to increase the probability of program survival after the experimenter's support is no longer available (Welsh et al., 1994). There is also a need for additional research on parental involvement to improve generalization and maintenance (Gunning et al., 2020). Finally, long‐term effects of PLS should be evaluated, specifically whether the skills maintain when children enter elementary school and whether maintenance of the skills results in better behavioral, social, and educational outcomes.…”

“…Previous research on PLS has been conducted in the United States, with the exception of Gunning et al (2018), who conducted an international replication and extension of PLS in an Irish preschool, and more recently, Gunning et al (2020) who explored the effectiveness of parents implementing PLS at home in Ireland. To date, we are aware of only one study that was conducted in a culture in which English is not the primary language.…”

An Evaluation of “Balance”: a Home-Based, Parent-Implemented Program Addressing Emerging Problem Behavior

“…It has been demonstrated to prevent the development of problem behavior in typically developing children (Luczynski & Hanley, 2013). The Preschool Life Skills Program also reduces existing problem behavior and strengthens social skills in typically developing preschoolers and children with developmental disabilities (Fahmie & Luczynski, 2018;Gunning, Holloway, & Healy, 2019;Gunning, Holloway, & Grealish, 2020;Robison, Mann, & Ingvarsson, 2020). No published studies have evaluated its preventive effects for children with developmental disabilities.…”