Evaluation of long-term therapeutic efficacy of behavior modification program with chronic male psychiatric inpatients

Abstract

An experimental Behavior Modification Program (BMP) was carried out on fifteen diagnosed chronic schizophrenic male patients on a mixed-population open psychiatric unit in a VA Medical Center. Treatment consisted of positive-reinforcement and response-cost contingency procedures and was conducted for 85, 80, 75 and 70 sessions, respectively, for the fifteen patients. These psychiatric patients were recruited for treatment based on staff documentation and reports of gross verbal abuse, non-attendance at assignments, poor grooming skills, and excessive drinking behavior while circulating on the mixed-population open psychiatric ward. Three to four of the aforementioned inappropriate (target) behaviors were selected for each subject and were treated sequentially in a multiple baseline design. Both procedures were highly successful for the fifteen male psychiatric patients in changing three of their targeted behaviors, but only partially effective for eight of those patients with drinking behavior problems. Follow-up assessment of the participants in the study indicated that most of the positive effects of intervention persisted over 6–12 months post-treatment periods. Of the fifteen inpatients that participated in the BMP, fourteen have been discharged into community foster homes and one remains on the open psychiatric ward awaiting placement outside the hospital.