Semi-Structured Interview Schedule (Telephone)

Supplementary methods

Semi-structured interview schedule (Telephone)

Temper outburst/tantrum –

Highly emotional response.Period of crying, screaming, angry ranting, shouting, stamping feet, or kicking.Can last for a prolonged period of time.

1. Does ______ever display temper outburst behaviour?

2. If so, what behaviours does ______show during a typical episode?

3. How often do the temper outbursts occur?

4. Think about the last time a temper outburst occurred, what seemed to trigger the behaviour in this example?

5. In the example you thought about, how did you respond to the temper outburst?

6. Roughly, how many times does the trigger you mentioned actually result in a temper outburst?

7. Are there times when this particular trigger does not actually trigger a temper outburst?

8. Roughly, how many times after a temper outburst would you respond in the way that you mentioned in the example?

9. What behaviours does ______typically show after an outburst?

10. Think of other examples in which a temper outburst occurred, what seemed to trigger this and how did you respond?

11. How long roughly do the temper outbursts last for?

Routines –

Actions or procedures that are followed regularly, often repetitiously.

12. Does ______have particular routines?

13. Are these routines important to ______?

14. What happens if the routine changes?

Review

15. Finally go over behaviours, antecedents and consequences listed.

Anymore behaviours, antecedents, consequences?

Can these antecedents and consequences be categorised? Do this with parent/carer.

Description of the change challenge games

The games

Mountain dice
Colour and shape
Drawing dice game
Counter game

General points on the games and changes

There should first be a familiarisation period of time where the participant is taught all of the games and understands the rules. This should last about 20mins, 5mins spent on each game
The game is then played for the pre-set amount of time.
When this time is up there is a 5 minute period where changes are introduced.
There are a number of changes available. These should be introduced in a random order/as the experimenter chooses. It is possible to pick the changes in order to help the participant!
In each 5min change there should be 5 changes in total and no change should be repeated.
After each change “go back to the old rules”.
Changes should be introduced clearly e.g. “now we’re going to pick up two cards”.
If changes are questioned can say “that’s how we’re playing it now”.
Changes should be kept for 1go. Then the game should go back to the previous rules.
Helps if continue to talk through the process so that the participant does not get confused.
Try not to give a reason for the change- there is no need to justify them
After the final change play for a while with the “old” rules before the 5 minutes are up
At the end of each game ask the player to fill in the self report sheet

Mountain dice game

Equipment

1 die
Laminated mountain sheets and people to move
Whiteboard markers and cloth/tissue

Rules

The object of the game is to climb and descend the 3 mountains, in number order. Moving from left to right (i.e. starting from the smallest mountain onwards to the largest- demonstrate by moving person)
Each player gets a strip with the three mountains on.
Players take it in turns to roll a dice. To move up and down the mountains the players need to cross the numbers off in order.
They can cross a number off when they roll that number on the dice.
The numbers need to be crossed off in order so the player needs to roll a 1 to cross off their first number and move their man up.

Changes

Climb the mountain backwards. I.e. move their person to the bottom right of the mountain “Now for this go we’re going to move the person here and try to roll a ** to try to climb the mountains backwards”.
Introduce an extra die so we are now using two dice. “So for this go we will roll two dice and you need to try to get a *”. Talk them through their roll. E.g. if needed 5 and rolled 5 1 can cross 5. If rolled 5 & 6 can cross both off.
Cross the numbers off in any order “This turn we’re going to cross off whatever number you roll, it doesn’t have to go in order, so have a go. Ok, now cross off all your *s”
Roll again – “This time we’re going to have 2 turns”
Start at top of a new mountain- Move their person to top of largest mountain “For this go we’re going to put your person here and try to roll a 6”
Old rules – cross off in order, roll only one die, go left to right.

Colour and shape card game

Equipment

“my first colour and shape snap cards”
Crayons
Shape worksheets

Rules

Players need to colour in the shapes in order (1 first, then 2 etc)
Players take it in turns to pick a card from the pack
If they pick the right shape they can colour it in the same colour as on the card
So when they pick a rectangle they can colour this in with the same colour as on the card.

Changes

Ignore the order, “This time we are going to ignore the order in which we colour the shapes in, you don’t have wait to draw the * this time you can colour the shapes in any order. Pick a card. Okay now you can colour that!”
Follow the colour “This time we’re ignoring the shape that is on the card but following the colour. So look at your card – what’s the colour? Colour in your next shape in that colour”
Follow the shape (jump to that shape) “This time we’re using a different colour than on the card. So choose any colour that’s not ****”
Take extra goes “This time we get two rolls”
Jump to the end “So now we have to try to colour the oval”
Old rules: in order, follow shape and colour, only one card drawn.

Drawing Dice Game

Equipment

Dice
Worksheets
Pens/crayons

Rules

Each number is assigned a body part
Players take it in turns to roll the dice until they get the right number to draw the next body part
Players have to get the numbers in order to draw
So when roll a 1 they can draw the head etc
Cross off each number when it has been drawn (to prevent confusion)
When animal is finished they can pick another animal

Changes

Draw feet first “This roll we’re going to try to roll a 6 for feet”
Any order “This time we don’t have to roll the dice in order. So roll. Now you can draw ***”
Allow extra rolls. “This time we’re going to roll twice each”
Introduce 2 dice. “This time we’re going to roll two dice” (talk them through)
Roll the dice for each other “This time we are going to roll the dice for each other” (talk them through)
Old rules, draw body parts in order

Counter Game

Equipment

Counters
Pot
Cards
Dice

Rules

Lay out the cards in a heap on the table
Divide the counters between the players evenly
Take it in turns to roll the dice
Find a card with the same number of dots
Turn the card over and put that number of counters into the pot
The card must be put in a “used” pile
If players cannot find a card with that number on (because all cards with that number on are in the “used” pile) then their turns end without putting any counters in the pot

Changes

Roll again “This time we’re going to have two rolls each”
Put cards back (not in used pile) “This time we’re not going to put the cards in the used pile. We’ll shuffle them back in”
Match colour AND number on back “for this go we’re going to look at the number and COLOUR on the back. OK, so you’ve got a **** so put in (number) (colour) counters”.
Follow the colour- ALL counters “This go we’re just going to look at the COLOUR on the back and put in all our counters of that colour. So you’ve got *** so put in all your *** counters”.
Don’t turn over “This time we’re not going to turn over the card but just look at the front and put in the same number of counters as dots”.
Old rules : Reinstate the “used pile”, follow only number on back and ignore colours

Supplementary analyses and results

Individual participant level behaviour observation data

Since the present design was repeated measures and substantial variability in observed behaviour was demonstrated across participants, the percentage of temper outburst behaviours shown during Disrupt conditions following Establish conditions of 10, 20, 40 and 80 minutes was examined at an individual participant level (Figures S1, S2 and S3). Overall 10 of the 16 participants demonstrated a pattern of behaviour broadly consistent with the group profile presented in the main manuscript.

Figure S1The percentage of each Disrupt condition (5 minutes, following different lengths of Establish conditions) during which each participant demonstrated temper outburst behaviours (participants are numbered arbitrarily for the purpose of display). The figure groups 9 of the participants with a pattern of behaviour broadly consistent with the group profile.

Figure S2The percentage of each Disrupt condition (5 minutes, following different lengths of Establish conditions) during which one participant demonstrated temper outburst behaviours (participants are numbered arbitrarily for the purpose of display). The figure shows the tenth participant with a pattern of behaviour broadly consistent with the group profile.

Figure S3The percentage of each Disrupt condition (5 minutes, following different lengths of Establish conditions) during which one participant demonstrated temper outburst behaviours (participants are numbered arbitrarily for the purpose of display). The figure shows the six participants with a pattern of behaviour that was not broadly consistent with the group profile.

Exploratory analyses of behaviour observation data

Following initial analysis, further coding was introduced.This was based on the observation that whilst playing the games, some participants appeared to be distracted at times. It was reasoned that given that the design of the study relied on individuals being aware when changes had occurred, any time periods when individuals were not paying attention to the games may affect results.

Distraction was thus operationally defined as any period of time when the participant was not engaged or paying attention to the game. This included times when: the participant did not notice when it was their turn; did not look at the game materials as they took their own turn, and did not look at the researcher or the game when the researcher took their turn; talked about something unrelated to the game (unless the participant was watching and paying attention to the game whilst talking); carried out an action unrelated to the game (e.g. looks in a book),which could include actions with game items (e.g. smelling the counters); looked/talked to someone else in the room or looked at the camera/out the window, but this excluded brief (up to 3 seconds) glances away from the researcher/the game; played with the physiological recording equipment; asked questions or made comments signifying boredom (e.g. “do we have long left?” etc).

Inter-rater reliability was assessed on 25% of each participant’s distraction coding and good inter-rater reliability was established, with a kappa value of .66.

Exploratory results on behaviour observation data

Results are reported in the main manuscript relating to participants who demonstrated relatively less distraction (did not demonstrate distraction for more than 20% of the duration of any of theDisrupt conditions; n=9; Figures S4 and S5). Distraction being shown for 20% of the duration of at least one Disrupt condition was treated as an arbitrary cut-off in this exploratory analysis and was based on the traditional confidence limits reported for statistical tests in Psychology research. In Figures S1-S3, participants falling below the 20% cut-off for distraction are labelled with NS (not distracted) and those falling above the 20% cut-off are labelled with DS (distracted). As demonstrated from these figures, only two participants with responding broadly consistent with the group profile fell into the distracted group, whereas four out of five participants with responding inconsistent with the group profile fell into the distracted group.

Figure S4The median percentage of five minute Disrupt conditions during which temper outburst behaviours were demonstrated by participants (n=9) who displayed distraction during less than 20% of all Disrupt conditions. Horizontal dashed lines represent the inter-quartile range.

Figure S5The median percentage of five minute Disrupt conditions during which temper outburst behaviours were demonstrated by participants (n=5) who displayed distraction during at least 20% of at least one Disrupt condition. Horizontal dashed lines represent the inter-quartile range.

The mean percentage of all Disrupt conditionsduring which the participants in the relatively less distracted group demonstrated temper outbursts was 2.9%; and the corresponding mean for the relatively more distracted group was 5.2%. This difference between the groups bordered significance (Wilcoxon Man-U: 43, p= .066). A Spearman’s correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive association between the percentage of Disrupt conditions during which temper outburst behaviours were shown and the percentage of time spent participants were distracted in the corresponding conditions (r= 0.52, p = .05; Figure S6). There was an overlap in the definitions of distraction and temper outburst behaviour because ignoring requests could potentially be comprised in either category. Thus, incidents of ignoring requests were excluded from this analysis

Figure S6 Relationship between the mean percentage of time participants were distracted and the mean percentage of time particpants displayed temper outburst related behaviours in Disrupt conditions.