Time-Out in Child Behavior Management

This book is essential reading for psychologists, therapists, students, and anyone who works with children and their families. It is a compact, comprehensive guide to understanding, administering, and teaching caregivers to implement time-out effectively for child behavior management. Readers will learn about time-out’s history and scientific research base, particularly with respect to child age, cultural groups, and presenting concerns. Practitioners will appreciate the focus on applied research highlighting the efficacy of specific time-out parameters, such as duration, location, and handling escape. Overviews of behavioral parent training programs that include time-out are also provided. The authors then share their expertise in the use of time-out in parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT), both conceptually and by using an in-depth case study. They also thoroughly examine controversial issues related to time-out, from theoretical and practical standpoints. The appendix provides the clinician with hands-on tools: step-by-step diagrams for administering time-out and managing escape, handouts for parents about issuing effective instructions, and a list of further resources.