The Relationship Between Selected Process and Outcome Measures in Conjoint Behavioral Consultation

Abstract

Conjoint behavioral consultation, an extension of traditional behavioral consultation, is a relatively new model of structured problem-solving. No published study exists that systematically examines the relationship between process and outcome variables in CBC. In an effort to expand on the process-outcome research in traditional behavioral consultation, a relational communication perspective was adopted to examine the presence of relational control in CBC and its relationship to outcomes. CBC was initiated for 20 clients who were elementary and middle school students identified as having a disability such as behavioral or learning disorders. Consultants were 16 advanced graduate students trained in CBC, and consultees were 23 school-based professionals and 20 parents. Consultant, teacher, and parent control was measured within the Conjoint Problem Identification Interview of each case using the Family Relational Communication Control Coding System (Heatherington & Friedlander, 1987). This coding system, an extension of the Rogers and Farace (1975) Relational Coding System, allows for patterns of relational control regarding the process of consultation to be examined. For each speaker, two measures of relational control were calculated, domineeringness and dominance. Domineeringness is the number of one-up messages by speaker A divided by the total number of messages for speaker A. Dominance is the number of one-up messages by speaker A responded to with one-down messages by speaker B. Outcomes were assessed at the conclusion of CBC regarding the acceptability of CBC, consultant effectiveness, and client improvement. Correlational results suggest that parent control (i.e., dominance) toward the consultant is associated with less favorable teacher ratings regarding model acceptability, r(19) = -49, p = .01, and less favorable parent ratings of client improvement, r(14) = -61, p = .01. Additionally, parent-to-teacher control was associated with less favorable parent ratings of client improvement, r(14) = -58, p = .01. In contrast to behavioral consultation's focus on teacher behavior, the results of this study suggest that greater importance should be paid to parent relational control with respect to outcomes of CBC.