ABSTRACT
Observing realtime parent–child interactions will help general practitioners to understand the pattern of, and possible reasons for, the child’s behaviour. Practitioners need to look at all of the components of the events that they observe, triggers or Antecedents, Behaviours and Consequences. Whether practitioners video-record parent–child interactions or simply write down what they see, it is important that they work from a strengths-based approach and include feedback about effective parent behaviours. Practitioners should look at them briefly to be sure that they have been completed with the relevant information, thank the parents, and set the record sheets aside for later discussion, reminding the parents that they will be using them to build their case analysis. Practitioners have the information needed to build a picture of the child and their family and to tentatively identify some of the functions of problem behaviour and possible goals.
