Boles, Margot Breanne (2015-12). Effectiveness and Quality of Employment Skill Interventions for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: A Meta-analysis, Quality Review, and Single-case Analysis. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
Many individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) have difficulty transitioning from school to employment due to employment-related skill deficits. There is an increasing need to evaluate the efficacy and quality of interventions that teach skills related to acquiring and maintaining employment. This dissertation includes three articles that assess the efficacy, quality, and individual analysis of single-case studies that implemented employment-related interventions. The first article includes a meta-analysis of 39 studies that met the basic design standards and inclusion criteria for employment-related interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. Tau-U effect sizes were calculated for each A-B contrast extracted from included experiments. In addition, moderator analyses were also conducted according to the type of intervention, dependent variables, participant characteristics, setting characteristics, and implementer characteristics. Moderate to strong effects were seen across almost all moderator levels and few significant differences were determined between the levels. According to overall effect sizes, video modeling interventions were considered to be effective in teaching employment skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. The second article includes a review of the quality of 39 single-case studies and 83 individual experiments focused on teaching employment skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Experiments were assessed and included in further analyses based on the basic design standards and evidence standards. Study elements were rated according to descriptive design quality indicators. According to the overall analyses, quality video modeling interventions were considered evidence-based according to the 5-3-20 rule. The purpose of the third article was to investigate the relationship between a point-of-view video modeling (POV) intervention and improvements in socio-communicative skills in two adolescents with ASD. A single-case, multiple-baseline design across three target skills was implemented. Data were recorded for eye contact, body orientation, and withholding interruption using a rating scale. Video modeling clips were recorded with a handheld video camera from the perspective of the participant. Both participants increased appropriate eye contact and body orientation after intervention implementation, but one participant did not show improvement during the withholding interruption intervention phase. Overall, the participants rated POV as useful and satisfactory.
Many individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) have difficulty transitioning from school to employment due to employment-related skill deficits. There is an increasing need to evaluate the efficacy and quality of interventions that teach skills related to acquiring and maintaining employment. This dissertation includes three articles that assess the efficacy, quality, and individual analysis of single-case studies that implemented employment-related interventions. The first article includes a meta-analysis of 39 studies that met the basic design standards and inclusion criteria for employment-related interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. Tau-U effect sizes were calculated for each A-B contrast extracted from included experiments. In addition, moderator analyses were also conducted according to the type of intervention, dependent variables, participant characteristics, setting characteristics, and implementer characteristics. Moderate to strong effects were seen across almost all moderator levels and few significant differences were determined between the levels. According to overall effect sizes, video modeling interventions were considered to be effective in teaching employment skills to individuals with developmental disabilities.
The second article includes a review of the quality of 39 single-case studies and 83 individual experiments focused on teaching employment skills to individuals with developmental disabilities. Experiments were assessed and included in further analyses based on the basic design standards and evidence standards. Study elements were rated according to descriptive design quality indicators. According to the overall analyses, quality video modeling interventions were considered evidence-based according to the 5-3-20 rule.
The purpose of the third article was to investigate the relationship between a point-of-view video modeling (POV) intervention and improvements in socio-communicative skills in two adolescents with ASD. A single-case, multiple-baseline design across three target skills was implemented. Data were recorded for eye contact, body orientation, and withholding interruption using a rating scale. Video modeling clips were recorded with a handheld video camera from the perspective of the participant. Both participants increased appropriate eye contact and body orientation after intervention implementation, but one participant did not show improvement during the withholding interruption intervention phase. Overall, the participants rated POV as useful and satisfactory.
