Social Learning Interventions in a Developmental Disabilities Partial Hospital Program

Abstract

Social learning interventions have been widely applied to the treatment of psychiatric symptoms. However, treatments for individuals with developmental disabilities and coexisting mental illness have routinely emphasized reinforcement-based contingency strategies rather than cognitive approaches. The slower rate of integrating cognitive strategies may be due to several factors including adherence to widely accepted behavior modification models, failure to acknowledge the coexistence of mental illness with mental retardation, and the difficulty of adapting social learning strategies for the developmentally delayed. Treatment outcomes following the application of social learning interventions were observed in a psychiatric partial hospital program for persons with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Three cases are presented to illustrate the application of social learning interventions and highlight specific adaptations of treatment strategies to the cognitive functioning level and developmental...