W John Curtis

Publications (3)6.23 Total impact

• Article: Mindful parenting decreases aggression and increases social behavior in children with developmental disabilities.

  Nirbhay N Singh, Giulio E Lancioni, Alan S W Winton, Judy Singh, W John Curtis, Robert G Wahler, Kristen M McAleavey
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  ABSTRACT: Research shows that after training in the philosophy and practice of mindfulness, parents can mindfully attend to the challenging behaviors of their children with autism. Parents also report an increased satisfaction with their parenting skills and social interactions with their children. These findings were replicated and extended with 4 parents of children who had developmental disabilities, exhibited aggressive behavior, and had limited social skills. After mindfulness training, the parents were able to decrease aggressive behavior and increase their children's social skills. They also reported a greater practice of mindfulness, increased satisfaction with their parenting, more social interactions with their children, and lower parenting stress. Furthermore, the children showed increased positive and decreased negative social interactions with their siblings. We speculate that mindfulness produces transformational change in the parents that is reflected in enhanced positive behavioral transactions with their children.
  Behavior Modification 12/2007; 31(6):749-71. · 1.70 Impact Factor
• Article: Family involvement and empowerment in mental health service provision for children with emotional and behavioral disorders

  W. John Curtis, Nirbhay N. Singh
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  ABSTRACT: Involvement of families is a critical component in effective systems of care for children with disabilities and their families. We investigated the sociodemographic correlates of family involvement in mental health services for children who have emotional and behavioral disorders. Further, we investigated the relationship between family involvement and family empowerment. The Family Involvement Scale-Family Version was used to measure involvement of families in the provision of mental services for their children and the Family Empowerment Scale was used to measure pempowerment in families with children who have emotional and behavioral disorders. In additions, demographic data concerming family composition, race, education, incone, membership in a parent support group, and the mental health status of the children were also collected. The results showed that mothers, as well as respondents with less formal education, reported greater involvement in services for their children than fathers and those who were more educated. Further, the knowledge subscale of empowerment was significantly correlated with all, subscales of family involvement and personal empowerment was significantly correlated with the treatment subscale of family involvement.
  Journal of Child and Family Studies 01/1996; 5(4):503-517. · 1.12 Impact Factor
• Article: Mindful staff increase learning and reduce aggression in adults with developmental disabilities.

  Nirbhay N Singh, Giulio E Lancioni, Alan S W Winton, W John Curtis, Robert G Wahler, Mohamed Sabaawi, Judy Singh, Kristen McAleavey
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  ABSTRACT: Aggression by individuals with developmental disabilities may threaten their community placement. In a multiple baseline design across group homes, we provided group home staff with behavioral training and later with mindfulness training to assess the impact on aggressive behaviors and the number of learning objectives mastered by individuals in their care. We also assessed other outcomes including activities engaged in by the individuals, use of restraint by staff, and measures of satisfaction. The effect of varying staff-resident ratios was evaluated on all measures. When compared to baseline, the number of staff interventions for aggression showed some reduction following behavioral training, but decreased substantially only following mindfulness training. There was also some increase in the number of learning objectives mastered by the individuals following behavioral training, but greater and more consistent increases were obtained only after mindfulness training. Improvements also occurred on the other measures assessed after behavioral training, but these were always greater and more consistent following mindfulness training. In addition, consistent gains followed behavioral training only with a high staff-resident ratio whereas the larger gains after mindfulness training occurred with both medium and low staff-resident ratios. Our results suggest that the addition of mindfulness training considerably enhanced the ability of the group home staff to effectively manage the aggressive behavior and learning of the individuals.
  Research in Developmental Disabilities 27(5):545-58. · 3.40 Impact Factor