The effects of conjoint behavioral consultation results of a 4-year investigation

Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is a structured indirect form of ser vice delivery in which parents, teachers, and other support staff are joine d to work together to address the academic, social, or behavioral needs of an individual for whom all parties bear some responsibility. In this articl e, outcome data front 4 years of federally funded projects in the area of C BC are presented. Thirty graduate students were trained in CBC and were res ponsible for providing consultation services to parents and teachers of stu dents with disabilities or at risk for academic failure. Consultation clien ts included 52 Students with disabilities such as behavior disorders, atten tion-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and learning disabilities. Th e primary research objective concerned assessing the efficacy of CBC across home and school settings. Secondarily, a prediction model was investigated based on client age, case complexity, and severity of symptoms. Perception of effectiveness, process acceptability, and consultee satisfaction with c onsultants was also investigated. Meaningful effect sizes were yielded acro ss home and school settings. A model fitting client age and symptom seventy was found to predict school effect size relatively well. Consultees' perce ptions of effectiveness, acceptability of CBC, and satisfaction with consul tants we re also favorable. Implications of these findings and directions f or future research are explored. (C) 2001 Society for the Study of School P sychology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.