Utility of Positive Peer Reporting to Improve Interactions Among Children in Foster Care

• Main Author: Van Horn, Jenny L
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholar Commons 2004
• Subjects: social rejection; peer acceptance; foster homes; peer relationships; negative interactions; American Studies; Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1281; https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2280&context=etd

This study investigated the utility of positive peer reporting to improve placement outcomes in foster care settings. Rejected children are likely to exhibit disruptive behavior problems due to frequent negative interactions with their peers, augmenting an already unstable environment in foster care. Researchers have found positive peer reporting to be successful in increasing social status and positive interactions and reducing negative interactions. Utilizing a multiple baseline with reversal elements, this study examined the effects of positive peer reporting on the positive and negative interactions of socially rejected children in foster care settings. Results supported previous literature with the first participant's positive interactions increasing from a mean of 16.67% in baseline to 55.63% during treatment; this was the final phase after a placement change. The second participant's positive interactions increased from a baseline average of 8.6% to a mean of 52.67% after positive peer reporting was implemented. Percentages reversed to near-baseline levels when treatment conditions were removed, averaging 21.5%. Fading procedures returned positive interactions to 41.39%, and these levels maintained across the final baseline, averaging 40%.