University Presentation Showcase: Undergraduate Division
Challenging Behaviors and Interventions in High School Students
Presenter Hometown
Cynthiana
Major
Psychology
Department
Psychology
Degree
Undergraduate
Mentor
Steffen Wilson
Mentor Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Cathey, Andrew, "Challenging Behaviors and Interventions in High School Students" (2025). University Presentation Showcase Event. 42.
https://encompass.eku.edu/swps/2025/undergraduate/42
Abstract
Challenging high school behaviors are behaviors that inhibit learning, inhibit the safety of oneself and others, and can bring about isolation. This thesis explored the interventions that were utilized by school faculty and staff to reduce or prevent challenging behaviors and the effectiveness of such interventions, as described by undergraduate college students reflecting on their years in high school. The hypothesis for this thesis was that undergraduate college students who graduated from high school in the last 5 years are more likely to witness positive behavior interventions than undergraduate college students who graduated from high school more than 5 years ago. Participants were required to answer a series of questions on an online survey regarding challenging behaviors and interventions for up to five scenarios. Of all 77 participants in the study, 63 of them graduated from high school less than 5 years ago, and only 3 of those 63 witnessed positive behavior supports (PBS). The remaining participants graduated from high school 5 years ago or more and none of them witnessed PBS. The relationship between high school graduation year and PBS was not statistically significant after the chi-square test, and the relationship between students who witnessed PBS and students who did not witness PBS was not statistically significant after the independent-samples t-test in terms of the interventions’ effectiveness. Future research should focus on whether student perceptions of effectiveness translate to actual improvements of effectiveness and why PBS was hardly administered, and high school staff should be trained on using PBS.
Presentation format
Poster
Challenging Behaviors and Interventions in High School Students
Challenging high school behaviors are behaviors that inhibit learning, inhibit the safety of oneself and others, and can bring about isolation. This thesis explored the interventions that were utilized by school faculty and staff to reduce or prevent challenging behaviors and the effectiveness of such interventions, as described by undergraduate college students reflecting on their years in high school. The hypothesis for this thesis was that undergraduate college students who graduated from high school in the last 5 years are more likely to witness positive behavior interventions than undergraduate college students who graduated from high school more than 5 years ago. Participants were required to answer a series of questions on an online survey regarding challenging behaviors and interventions for up to five scenarios. Of all 77 participants in the study, 63 of them graduated from high school less than 5 years ago, and only 3 of those 63 witnessed positive behavior supports (PBS). The remaining participants graduated from high school 5 years ago or more and none of them witnessed PBS. The relationship between high school graduation year and PBS was not statistically significant after the chi-square test, and the relationship between students who witnessed PBS and students who did not witness PBS was not statistically significant after the independent-samples t-test in terms of the interventions’ effectiveness. Future research should focus on whether student perceptions of effectiveness translate to actual improvements of effectiveness and why PBS was hardly administered, and high school staff should be trained on using PBS.
