Impact of Token Economy on Occupational Performance of Children with Psychosocial Difficulties

Abstract

Background: Token Economy is a behavioral modification system of a child which aims to achieve target behaviors by providing positive reinforcements. An intricate system of reinforcement known as a token economy involves the use of tokens as a means of exchange for a variety of commodities, services, and benefits. The token economy was first applied by Ayllon and Azrin as an operant technology. Ayllon and Azrin investigated the impact of token reinforcement on a range of target behaviors in a series of ground-breaking experiments carried out with patients at a state mental hospital (Ivy et al., 2017). Token reinforcement system helps to achieve maximum outcome from a psychosocial child to perform an activity. Methods: A quantitative study, specifically cross-sectional study design was used to conduct the study. The aim of the study was to find out the impact of token economy on occupational performance of children with psychosocial difficulties. In a study, 47 psychosocial difficulties children are selected as a sample size of the study collected from a non-government organization named, Shishu Polli Plus (SPP), Gazipur, Bangladesh. In this study, Researcher used a survey checklist which develop by SPP which was child school & house behaviors daily token incident and earning report. Data was analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software manually. Results: This thesis reported that there is an impact of token economy on psychosocial child Occupational Performance. The results showed the impact of token economy on Occupational performance (school behaviors, house behaviors, evening study, morning study, gate move with tiffin). Impact measured by calculating the earning of token according to the activities of occupational performance. Mean value of first day token AbstractAbstractAbstract AbstractAbstractAbstractAbstract xii earning 5.8±0.556.And the last day token earning average mean 5.89±0.312.The result was statistical significance where the P value was 0.025 (P>0.05). Token earning rate among children with psychosocial difficulties on Occupational areas was increased after applying token economy program. The study also funds the association between the mother’s age and the token earning rate of the children with psychosocial difficulties. The study also investigates the association between the socio-demographic factors and the individual child’s token earning rate. Conclusion: This thesis identified the possible demographic factor which influenced a psychosocial child token deduction and identified the impact of token economy. The study is helpful for those professionals who are working to shape a person’s behaviors. The study is evidence of treatment guidelines that professionals used un their clinical practice. Keywords: Token Economy, Psychosocial Difficulties, Occupational Performance.