Journal of Education in Developing Areas (JEDA) Vol. 19, No. 1.

USING CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SELF-MANAGEMENT IN THE REDUCTION OF CONDUCT DISORDERS OF PUPILS.

BY

ADEDIRAN, OLUSOLA AKINTUNDE

Department of Educational Psychology Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, Oyo State Nigeria.

Abstract
The thrust of this paper is on the efficacy of two instructional strategies contingency management and self-management in the reduction of conduct disorders of pupils in selected primary schools in Ibadan, Oyo state. A pre-test, post-test, control group, trueexperimental design was adopted in the study. Forty five pupils were purposely selected in each of the three chosen schools with the assistance of their respective teachers to respond to a validated checklist tagged Checklist Conduct Disorder (CCD). Two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance and the results obtained indicated significant differences in conduct disorders of pupils exposed to treatment strategies and those in control group (F(8,117)=5.78; p<0.05). Also, significant difference existed in conduct disorders treatment between pupils exposed to contingency management strategy and those exposed to self-management strategy.(t=5.54,df =88,p<0.05). The researcher, however recommends these two strategies contingency management and self management to be introduced in the schools programme and that seminars, conferences and symposia be organized for the class teacher on how to effectively use these behaviour modification strategies in the management of pupils with conduct disorders.

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

Introduction
Conduct disorder is one of the abnormal behaviour disorders of children and adolescents. These are behaviours that are not in conformity with the accepted norms and values of the society, most of the time, these behaviours are considered anti-social as they threaten the peaceful co-existence of the society and at the same time pose problem to the child. These behaviours include stealing, fighting, bullying, lying, vandalism, aggressiveness and so on. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) (2004) defined conduct disorder as a complicated group of behavioural and emotional problems in youngsters. Children and adolescents with these disorders have great difficulty following rules and behaving in a socially acceptable way. In the same vein, Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder DMS IV (1994) defines conduct disorder as a repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age appropriate social norms and rules are violated. Basically, a person does things that are against the rules and does not seem to care whether people are hurt or not. Research on causal factors for conduct disorder suggests a combination of Psychological and biological factors (Harris, 2004). Equally, the AACAP (2004) opines that the etiology of conduct disorder involves an interaction of genetic/constitutional familiar and social factors. Kardzin (1995) and Marshall & Watt (1999) opined that children with conduct disorder typically lack social skills to maintain friendships and risk being isolated from peer groups. Accordingly, rejection by peers is often a prelude to deviant peer group membership making the risk for drug abuse and anti-social behaviours even higher. Reading problems and poor academic achievement have been linked to conduct disorders. Such problems may create barriers to school adjustment in the early years by decreasing effective child-teacher and child-peer interactive. (Kadzin, 1995). In the views of Gardner (1992), there is abundant evidence that many children learn and establish conduct problems because parents lack key parenting skills, use them inconsistently or fail to use them at the appropriate times. Equally, WebsterStratton and Taylor (2001) had suggested that conduct problems beginning in the toddler years may result from ineffective parental responses to a child whose

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 1

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

temperament is more demanding (i.e impulsive, hyperactive, quick to anger ). Some parents respond to the child with harsh and punitive discipline, others respond by frequently giving in to the childs demands. Marital instability was also identified as associated with conduct disorder. Webster-Stratton & Herbert (1994) posited that marital conflict may have indirect effect on childs conduct problems as the child exhibits anti-social habits of conflict resolution and seeing fewer examples of pro-social skills and negotiation. There are a number of empirically supported clinically available programmes used in the treatment of conduct disorder. For instance, Weiss, Catron, Harris and Pluing (1999) evaluated the effectiveness of child psychotherapy intervention for conduct problems using a randomized design, the study measured the treatment outcome following traditional child psychotherapy compared with an attention placebo control (academic tutoring). It was discovered that compared with the attention placebo condition, traditional psychotherapy produced only a small treatment effect on childs functioning and psychotherapy. Numerous intervention programmes have been developed for children to manage behavioural conduct disorders. These treatment programmes focus on further skills development, including anger management and rewarding appropriate classroom behaviour. Skill development of the child includes understanding of their feelings,

problem-solving, how to peacefully interact in school and how to succeed in school. A study in Australia - Shylaja and Jan (2001) in pursuance of reduction in aggressive behaviour of children using contingency contracting and self management strategies, discovered a significant effect of treatment, but according to them, selfmanagement was more effective than contingency contracting. The treatment effects of cognitive-behavioural intervention have therefore been replicated in several controlled studies. These randomized clinical trials have

produced a body of evidence which indicates that cognitively based treatments have a beneficial therapeutic effect in reducing behavior problems, notably aggressive behavior, and increasing pro-social behavior. At post-treatment and follow-up,

parents teachers reports indicated that children have moved to within or near the nondeviant range on standard scales of behavior problems and social adjustment (Webster-Stratton and Hammond, 1997, Kadzin, 1996). In another study, Webster-Strattion and Taylor (2007) in an attempt to prevent

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 2

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

substance abuse, delinquency and violence in adolescence through self-management and contingency management techniques found a significant improvement of participants, but discovered the potency of contingency management over selfmanagement. Martin (2008) investigated a small group of Junior high school students with pervasive conduct disorder across multiple domains for some domains such as stealing, lying and relational aggression it was discovered that treatment had main effect on their identified conduct disorder. This study tends to apply two behaviour modification techniques such as contingency management and self-management strategies in reducing or eliminating conduct behaviour disorder among primary school pupils. Behaviour modification is the scientific management of behavior in a way that individuals and groups are effective, and it is an attempt to apply the general principles of learning in order to achieve the desired change in individuals behavior (Olawale, 2000). Contingency Management This is a mutual contract made between the student and the teacher that can help to motivate the student towards desirable behaviour change. By definition, a contract is an agreement-verbal or written-between two parties. The term contingency means

there is a relationship between that one does and the consequences (Slocumb, 1997). Contingency management has been found to be an effective way of increasing academic and social behaviour of children with Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorders. Clearly Parents are taught a variety of skills such as contingent use of praise, positive attention, token reinforcement, specific instructions, planned ignoring for minor problem behaviour, exclusionary and non-exclusionary time out (also known as quiet time), and contingency contracts. Parents learn to apply these skills at home and in the community with target children in the family in order to teach children prosocial (Mathew, Shylaja & Jan. 2000). Contingency contracting involves. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A written agreement, to which the student must agree The target behaviours must be stated The goals must be manageable for the students to achieve There should be a sense of belonging and involvement by the student The student is then rewarded according to the terms of the contract.

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 3

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

Steps in Contracting The teacher identifies the specific behaviour required of the student. The

positive behaviour needed to replace the negative behaviour is stated very clearly and positively. This tells the student what he/she will do. The teacher identifies the reinforcement for which the student will work. The student should only receive the reinforcement for performing the behaviour specified in the contract. The teacher specifies the terms of the contract. The terms should include the amount or type of behaviour required and the amount or type of reward. Write the contract. The contract should state the desired behaviour, the term of the contract as well the date the contract begins and when it will end. The student is then rewarded according to the terms of the contract.

Rewards Rewards that are the most powerful to students are those that are seen by the student as attractive. They should only occur within the conditions of the contract and be delivered immediately upon the completion of the required behaviour. These steps

should increase the probability for the desired behaviour to be repeated by the student. Types of Rewards Edible Snacks at launch Social - 20 minutes free play Activity classroom helper

Self Management One of the most effective and most utilized applications of self-management strategies for schools is called self-monitoring. Self monitoring has been found to

increase rates of effective learning behaviors such as attention to task, task completion, and the successful application of reading, writing and math strategies (Carr & Punzo, 1993). This is also called self-control. A person with conduct disorder is involved in implementing strategies that may help his or her behaviour change. Target behaviour is identified; the self-management strategy may be applied to antecedents or consequences of the targeted behaviour. This technique has been used by people with moderate and severe learning difficulty. In applying this technique to behavioural consequences, the person may use self-observation, evaluation, recording and reinforcement. www.jeda-uniport.com Page 4

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

Self-monitoring is appropriate for use with students in general and special education classrooms (Coleman & Webber, 2000). Self-monitoring is the process of having a student record data about a target behaviour for the purpose of changing the rate of that behaviour. Self-monitoring may involve having students tally the number of actual behaviors, or mark time intervals during which a target behavior occurs or does not occur (Alberto & Trautman, 1995; ONeill, Horner, Albin, Sprague, Storey and Newton 1997). The teaching of self-monitoring follows a typical cognitive-behavioral sequence: direct instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback, combined with external reinforcement (Webber, Scheuermann, McCall, & Coleman, 1993). The application of self-management technique to antecedents procedures allows the person to make choices using self-instructions for example, self-talk and printed instructions. Self management involves that the person engage in the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. Recasting the problem in terms of behaviour which must be changed Recognizing his/her problem Finding naturally occurring events (contingencies) which will support change alternatively; there will be need to create such contingencies. Arranging such contingencies so that change will occur.

Some people may achieve only partial participation in their own behavioural change and may need teaching or support to progress. Self-management is important for learning new skills, managing time effectively and addressing problems to achieving goals. All these are aspects of normalizing and moving towards autonomy. Self-management is a guide to make sure the student do the right thing with many options. Advantages of self-management 1. It increases the students self-reliance 2. It decreases over-reliance on parents, caretakers, teachers and external control 3. It permits teachers to spend less time on classroom management and more on instructional tasks. Statement of the Problem Conduct disorders are identified as severe behaviour disorders characterized by risk of other public health problems including violence, use of weapons, aggression, substance abuse, vandalism, truancy and a host of others. It did not only threaten

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 5

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

the normal social development of the child, but also of others around him/her. The extent of conduct disorder on the personality of pupils has necessitated urgent address or remediation and thus the researcher would be interested in using two behaviour change strategies to reduce or eliminate conduct disorder and also investigate its consequences among the primary school pupils in Oyo state. Hypotheses The following hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 alpha level. 1. There is no significant difference in conduct disorder act between

participants exposed to training and the control group. 2. There is no significant difference in conduct disorder act between

participants in contingency group and those in self-management group. Methodology Research Design A pre-test, post-test, control group, true-experimental design was adopted in the study. There were three rows consisting of the two treatment strategies (Contingency management and self-management) and the control group. columns denoting the levels of pupils socio-economic status. Sample and Sampling Techniques Primary 5 and 6 pupils in 3 selected schools in Ibadan were the participants in the study, and they were purposively selected based on the available data provided on their affective behaviours that constitute problems to themselves, their peers and the school generally. 45 pupils were purposively selected each, bringing a total of 135 participants. Instrument Checklist Conduct Disorder (CCD) was developed by the researcher and its psychometric property was ascertained as the instrument was given to experts in the department of Guidance and Counselling, University of Ibadan, Ibadan to establish its face and content validation. The reliability of the instrument was determined by using the cronbach, which gave a coefficient alpha of 0.79 at 0.05 significant level before and 0.87 after pilot study. This however is considered highly significantly reliable. There were also three

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 6

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

Procedure The researcher was assisted by respective teachers in the chosen schools to identify pupils who exhibit conduct disorders. The intervention lasted for a period of 6 weeks of 120 minutes weekly sessions each. For the two groups, first sessions were on briefing the participants on the purpose and nature of the research and the first administration of the instrument (pre-treatment) to form the baseline data. The

remaining five sessions for contingency group covered two the items in the conduct disorder checklist each, with the last session combining the second administration of the instrument (post-treatment) to assess the efficacy of the treatment programme. The next four sessions for self-management group were training sessions on selfmonitoring, self-instruction, self-observation and self-evaluation, while the last session covered the second administration of the instrument (post treatment) to assess the efficacy of the treatment programme. The first session for the control group covered briefing on the purpose and nature of the study, and also the first administration of the instrument (pre-treatment) to form the baseline data. The second session was the last and it covered the second administration of the instrument against which the first set of data was computed (this came after training intervention sessions for the treatment group ended). Data Analysis Data were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test Results The results are presented in forms of tables and explanations are made with references to the tables.
Table I: Analysis of the main effects of the Treatment on pupils conduct disorder. Row/Col Low Socio-economic Moderate socioHigh SES status Economic Status Contingency Xs Adjusted Ys Xs Adjusted Ys Xs Adjusted Ys Mgt Self Mgt 67.73 117.25 66.73 116.87 72.73 111.28 Control 65.85 68.18 67.60 67.22 66.67 67.89 Table 2: Analysis of Covariance for Adjusted Y-means for Contingency and self management techniques on pupils conduct disorder Sources of Variation SS DF MS F P Contingency + Self mgt 3961.55 2 1980.78 2134.80 <0.05 Socio economic status 52.40 2 26.20 28.24 <0.05 Interaction 40.56 4 10.14 10.93 <0.05 Within 1753.64 126 0.93

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 7

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

The first hypothesis states that there is no significant difference in conduct disorder acts between participants exposed to training and the control group. It has been observed that both contingency management and self-management strategies had significant impact on trained participants conduct disorder (F(8, 117) = 5.78; P<0.05) Table 1 and 2 above clearly show significant difference between participants exposed to treatment and the control group. The hypothesis was therefore rejected.
Table 3: Mean comparison of pupils with conduct disorders with contingency contracting and self-management. Groups N X Df Se t-value t-table P Contingency management 45 117.28 group 88 0.35 5.54 2.05 <0.05 Self management group 45 115.31

The second hypothesis states that there is no significant difference in conduct disorder between contingency contracting group and self-management group. The result however has showed that there existed significant differences between the two groups (t = 5.54, df = 88, p<0.05). Table 3 above showed the comparative of the mean of the two groups. Since the t- value calculated is greater than t-table, the null hypothesis was rejected. Discussion of Findings The study revealed that both contingency management and self- management strategies had significant impact on pupils with conduct disorders. Conduct disorders are anti-social, bullying, lying, vandalism, aggressiveness and such likes. The result obtained showed that the two strategies were effective in the management of conduct disorders of pupils. This finding corroborated the findings of Matthew Shylaja and Jan (2000) where it was confirmed that contingency management and self management were effective in the reduction of aggressiveness a conduct disorder. Also it was discovered that this finding has affinity with the investigation made by Kerrin, Jaeque and Imelda (2001) on conduct disorders using self-management strategy as an intervention, the result brought a significant positive effect as it helps in the reduction of identified conduct disorder. Equally, Matthew, Shylaja, and Jan (2000) affirmed that parents learn to apply contingency management at home to teach children pro-social behaviours. www.jeda-uniport.com Page 8

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

In the same vein, self-management was found to be effective in the study, this is in line with the findings of Carr and Punzo (1993) where self-management was found to be effective in increasing rates of effective learning behaviour. The result obtained in hypothesis 2 showed significant difference in pupils conduct disorder of the two groups i.e. contingency management and self Management. This finding was in line with that of Kerrin, Jacque and Imelda (2001) who investigated conduct disorder in children and adolescents using self-

management strategy as an intervention, they discovered a significant positive effect as it helps in the reduction of identified conduct disorder. Recommendations Based on the findings of this study which brought into limelight attendant conduct disorders among the primary school pupils, and the designed intervention programme such as contingency contracting and self management were effectively addressed, the researcher recommends that our various schools through the assistance of their respective government should introduce without delay the two behaviour change strategies in the regular school programme so as to develop in these children, a desirable and proper personality. Equally to make the programme effective, seminars conferences and symposium should be organized for classroom teachers on how to use these behaviour modification strategies to help in managing other conduct disorders among school children. Conclusion The extent of the effect of conduct disorder on the personality of pupils has necessitated its remediation, hence in this study. It has been found that both

contingency contracting and self-management groups benefited immensely from the training provided and this accounted for the post intervention abilities of these two groups over the control group. Also a comparative analysis of the two experimental groups revealed that contingency contracting was more effective than self-

management in reducing conduct disorder incidence among pupils.

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 9

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

References
Alberto, P. A. and Trautman, A.C. (1995). Applied Behaviour Analysis for Teachers (4th edition) N.J. Englewood Cliffs. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, (AACAP) (2004). Conduct Disorder to Psychiatric Theory. Fact for Family. Retrieved June, 2004. Carr, S. C. and Punzo, R. P. (1993). The Effects of Self-Monitoring of Academic Accuracy and Productivity on the Performance of Students with Behaviour Disorders. Behavioural Disorders. 18, 241-250. Coleman, M.C. and Webber, J. (2002). Emotional and Behavioural Disorders: Theory and Practice. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV) (1994), 4th Ed. Washington DC. American Association of Psychology. Gardner, F. (1992). Parent-Child Interaction and Conduct Disorder. Educational Psychology Review, 4 (2) 135-163. Harris, J. (ed) (2004). Youth Horizous Trust Programmes for Youth People with Severe Conduct Disorder. Auckland, New Zealand. Kardzin, A. E. (1992). Conduct Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Kerrin, B, Jacques, D and Imelda, W. (2001). Conduct Disorder in Children and Adolescents, Behavioural Neurotherapy Clinic. Marshal, J. and, Watt, P. (1999). Child Behaviuor Problems. Perth, W. A. Interagency Committee on Childrens Features. Martin, H. (1998). Clinical child Psychology. Social Learning. Development and Behaviour. (2nd ed) England. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Matthew, R. S. Shylaja, G and Jan, N. (2000). The Australia Early Intervention Network for Mental Health in Young People. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 9, 103-111. Oneill, R. E., Horner, R. H. Albin, R. R., Sprague, J. R., Storey, K. and Newton, J. S. (1997). Functional Assessment and Program Development for Problem Behaviour. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole.

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 10

March , 2011

JOURNAL OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AREAS (JEDA) VOL.19 (1).

Olawale, S. G. (2000). Introduction to Behaviour Modification for NCE and undergraduates. Lagos. Awoley Press. Webber, J., Scheurmann, B; Mc Call, and Coleman, M. (1993): Research on SelfMonitoring as behaviour Management Technique in Special Education classroom. A descriptive. Remedial and Special Education 14, 38-56. Webster-Straton, C. and Taylor, T. (2001). Nipping early risk factors in the bind: Preventing Substance Abuse, Delinquency and Violence in Adolescence through interventions targeted at young children (0-8 years) Prevention Science 2 (3), 165-192. Webster-Stratton and Hebbert, M. (1994). Troubled Families Problem Children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 62, 583-593. Webster-Stratton and Herbert M. (1994). Troubled Families Problem Children. Journal of Clinical psychology 62, 583-593.

www.jeda-uniport.com

Page 11