Evaluating the impact of positive behaviour support training on staff knowledge, attributions, emotional responses and helping behaviour: capturing hearts and minds

Background: Attention to the role of mediators has always been a key component of positive behavior support. This is evidenced by, amongst other things, the resources devoted to training front line care staff & families in the principles and practice of positive behaviour support (PBS). In order for this training to result in permanent changes in the behaviour of these mediators it is argued that, as well as acquiring knowledge, it is vital that training impacts on the beliefs and attributions of the participants.

Method and materials: The study involved 59 care staff working with individuals with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour who were trained in PBS. At pre- and post-training, staff completed self-report questionnaire packs in response to a case study depicting a service user with intellectual disabilities engaging in challenging behaviour.

Results: A series of paired samples t-tests were conducted to evaluate the training. Staff knowledge in positive behaviour support increased from pre- (5.05) to post- (6.82) training, t (37) = –4.45, p<0.001. Furthermore, at post-training, participants were less likely to attribute the causes of challenging behaviour as controllable by the service user with intellectual disabilities, more likely to engage in proactive strategies, less likely to engage in unhelpful behaviour, and reported higher levels of optimism in supporting a service user with challenging behaviour.

Conclusions: The findings indicate that the training course has potentially helpfully influenced the knowledge & attributions of the participants. The results are important in that they suggest that the course may indirectly lead to the enhancement of the quality of life of those service users supported by staff attending the training course.