Parents’ Use of Physical Interventions in the Management of Their Children’s Severe Challenging Behaviour

Background Although training staff supporting people with challenging behaviour in physical interventions has become accepted practice, parents are often left to fend for themselves while managing equivalent behaviours. The study explores parents’ experience of managing severe challenging behaviours, their use of physical interventions and access to training in reactive strategies. Method A postal survey methodology was employed that utilized a novel 20-item questionnaire. The questionnaire yielded both quantitative and qualitative data concerning the types of challenging behaviour displayed by the children, frequency of use and nature of physical interventions, types of training received and any difficulties experienced in obtaining training. The sample was drawn from the membership of a national charitable organization and comprised of 72 respondents. Results The majority of respondents had experienced major episodes of challenging behaviour. The emotional impact of living with such behaviours was apparent. Although the vast majority of respondents had employed restrictive physical interventions, few had received any formal training in such strategies. There was evidence that a number of high-risk physical interventions were sometimes being employed. Accessing training appeared more problematic for parents when compared with paid care staff. Conclusions In this specific sample, parental use of physical intervention was high while parent training in physical intervention was uncommon. Impediments to parent training in physical intervention are discussed, as are wider issues concerning parental support.