Training in Trauma-Informed Positive Behaviour Support for Direct Support Professionals of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

People with disabilities are vulnerable to experiencing trauma due to a complex interaction of systemic and individual factors (McGilvery, 2018), urging for supports that promote safety and control, such as Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) and Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). Behavioural Skills Training (BST) is a competency-based training procedure used to teach a wide selection of professionals work-related skills (Gormley et al., 2019). This study evaluated a multicomponent training package consisting of didactic and activity-based training plus BST implemented with 12 direct support professionals recruited from a community-based organization supporting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A pre-post- follow-up design was used to determine the effectiveness of didactic and activity-based training on knowledge and application of TIC and PBS. BST was used to increase skills related to trauma-informed PBS for a subset of six participants using a multiple probe within-participants single-case experimental design (Ledford & Gast, 2018). The three skills trained were providing opportunities for choice, multiple stimulus without replacement, and paired item preference assessments. Training resulted in increased knowledge and application of PBS and TIC on post- tests and at follow-up. BST was effective in training all skills to mastery, while maintenance and generalization were evident for most skills four to five weeks after training. Implications of the findings, strengths and limitations of the study, and future steps are discussed.