A study of behavior modification for developmentally disabled children.
A tape-slide series, using a desensitization and modeling approach, was developed in order to prepare three- and four-year-old developmentally disabled children for an initial dental examination. The tape-slide series pleasantly describes what to expect during the first visit to the dental office. A clown and a four-year-old girl were used as models. Twenty-eight children participated in the study, divided into two groups: control and experimental. A requirement for qualification as a patient was that the child not have had any previous dental experience. Three techniques for measuring behavior were used: heart rate, a modified Melamed's scale, and a dentist's subjective evaluation. The results demonstrated that: a) The experimental group was in a high state of arousal when starting the dental procedures; b) Children exposed to the tapeslide series showed worse behavior and a higher heart rate than children not exposed to the series; c) Heart rate was sensitive and objective in measuring anxiety and arousal in the dental setting; d) Modified Melamed's scale was not sensitive enough to measure microbehavior in this study; e) The subjective dentist's evaluation showed the impossibility of preventing a biased interpretation of behavior by the evaluator.
Boj
J R
JR
Eastman Dental Center, Rochester, NY.
Davila
J M
JM
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis / Q000523:psychology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D007360:Intelligence; D007859:Learning Disabilities; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods