INTERVENTION RESEARCH IN EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL-DISORDERS - AN ANALYSIS OF STUDIES FROM 1980-1993

The purpose of the current study was to examine the status of experime ntal research on interventions designed to modify behaviors of childre n and youth with emotional and/or behavioral disorders (EBD). Twelve j ournals published between 1980 and 1993 were surveyed to explore possi ble trends in five descriptive dimensions of the research, including s ubject characteristics, settings, research design, dependent variables , and independent variables (interventions). In addition, the database was examined to determine whether interventions were based on individ ualized processes of assessment. The results showed negligible trends, and very few studies reported interventions that were individualized on the basis of assessment data. The discussion addresses the general status of intervention research and the need for applied research.