Family-Centered Professional Behavior

Abstract

This article reports on a study assessing parents' perceptions of the importance and frequency of family-centered behaviors. A nationwide sample of caregivers of children with emotional and behavioral disorders, developmental disabilities, or chronic health problems completed the Family-Centered Behavior Scale, a measurement of the construct of family-centered service delivery. The differences in ratings between caregivers of children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and parents of children with other disabilities on the frequency and importance of behaviors exhibited by professionals are described. Results indicate strong agreement between the two groups on which behaviors they consider to be most important, but those behaviors are performed much less frequently, according to caregivers, by professionals serving children with EBD. These results indicate that more intensive training of service professionals and more research about the effectiveness of family-centered practices may be necessary if long-standing professional approaches to this population are to be reversed.