title: Dining arrangements and behavior of severely mentally retarded adults.
abstract: The behavior of 12 severely and profoundly mentally retarded men and women living in a 64-bed community residence was studied during large group (congregate) and small group dining arrangements. Four adaptive and four maladaptive mealtime behaviors were recorded using a coded partial interval time sampling procedure, employing a with-subject reversal design. Adaptive dining behaviors increased (15.9% to 93.6%) and maladaptive behaviors associated with meals decreased (28.8% to 8.5%) during small group dining periods. The relation of client behavior to variables in addition to group size is discussed.
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male