The Family Contract Game: Technique and case study.

Designed a cooperatively played board game (the Family Contract Game) to enable a family to autonomously resolve problems raised by family members and to write contingency contracts. The game's use was illustrated in an N = 1 reversal design. A single mother and her 14-yr-old son presented problems of severe conflict and the son's bizarre behavior, measured by H. Hops et al's (1971) coding system, improved significantly the 1st time they played the game and remained constant throughout treatment. When the game was withdrawn, problem-solving behavior declined significantly but was still significantly better than prior to treatment. Contracts carried out at home significantly reduced problem behavior frequency, and contracts never implemented were associated with a borderline significance reduction in problem behaviors. At the end of treatment, the son's deviant behavior was substantially improved. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)