Center on the Social and Emotional
Foundations for Early Learning
Project funded by the Child Care and Head Start
Bureaus in the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
The Role of Time-Out
in a Comprehensive
Approach for Addressing
Challenging Behaviors
of Preschool Children
G. Dunlap L. Fox M.L. Hemmeter P. Strain
SERIES
WHAT WORKS BRIEFS
The Role of Time-Out in a Comprehensive
Approach for Addressing Challenging
Behaviors of Preschool Children
This What Works Brief is part of a continuing series of
short, easy-to-read, how to information packets on a
variety of evidence-based practices, strategies, and
intervention procedures. The Briefs are designed to
help teachers and other caregivers support young
childrens social and emotional development. In-service
providers and others who conduct staff development
activities should find them especially useful in sharing
information with professionals and parents. The Briefs
include examples and vignettes that illustrate how
practical strategies might be used in a variety of early
childhood settings and home environments.
What Is Time-Out?
Time-out is a form of discipline that can be effective in reducing challenging behaviors in young children. The term
time-out is short for time out from positive reinforcement. The strategy is similar to an extended form of
selectively ignoring disruptive behavior. Children are removed for a brief time from all sources of reinforcement
(e.g., teacher and peer attention) following serious challenging behavior. Usually this strategy requires that a child
be removed from an ongoing activity for a brief time, typically by having the child sit on the outside of the activity
within the classroom until the child calms down and is ready to rejoin the activity and try again. Time-out is intended to be a nonviolent response to conflict that stops the conflict, protects the victim, and provides a coolingoff period for the child.
Time-out is only effective when used in the context of a comprehensive approach to behavior support that is designed to teach, nurture, and encourage positive social behaviors. Time-out should be used only by well-trained
teachers and caregivers when less intrusive discipline procedures have been tried and deemed unsuccessful and only
in combination with positive procedures designed to teach new skills and prevent challenging behaviors from
occurring (please refer to other CSEFEL What Works Briefs for effective practices for preventing behavior problems). Effective management of behavior should always start with praise and encouragement for prosocial behaviors and self-regulation and be accompanied by distraction, redirection, withdrawal of attention, and logical and
natural consequences.
This Brief provides an overview of a comprehensive approach to supporting childrens behavior and discusses the
role of time-out in the context of a comprehensive approach. Although time-out has been demonstrated to be effective in some situations, it should not be overused and should be reserved for high-intensity behaviors such as
aggression toward peers and adults and destructive behavior. Because of a lack of evidence to support its use with
very young children as well as the research on the social-emotional development of very young children, the use of
time-out with infants and young toddlers is not recommended.
We would like to acknowledge the input of the following individuals:
Douglas Tynan, AI duPont Childrens Hospital, Jefferson Medical College
Deborah Miller, AI duPont Childrens Hospital, Jefferson Medical College
Carolyn Webster-Stratton, University of Washington
Mark Greenberg, Penn State University
Marilyn Benoit, Georgetown University Medical Center
Joseph Hagan, University of Vermont College of Medicine
Edward Carr, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Edward Christophersen, Mercy Childrens Hospital, University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Medicine
Nicholas Ialongo, Johns Hopkins University
August 2004
A Comprehensive, Positive Approach to
Behavior Support for Preschool Children
Serious challenging behaviors that may benefit from the
use of time-out include aggression, destruction of property, and noncompliance. Time-out is one option to include
in a comprehensive approach for addressing these serious
challenging behaviors when less intrusive methods are
unsuccessful. A comprehensive, positive approach should
include the following:
1. Building Positive Relationships.
It is critically important that every child feels valued
by the adults in the classroom. A caring relationship
between the adult and the child serves as a foundation
for teaching behavior expectations and social skills.
Adults must be generous with their approval of the
child, providing positive feedback to the child and
building an affectionate relationship. When children
feel liked and valued by adults, they are more motivated to seek adult attention in positive ways and
accept adult guidance. Children who have positive and
caring relationships with their caregivers are able to
acquire the skills and understanding they need to
regulate their emotions and behavior.
2
Using Classroom Preventive Practices.
Providing children with structure and guidance for
appropriate behavior can minimize problem behavior.
Preventive practices such as organized play environments, predictable activities, planned transitions,
appropriate materials, opportunities for choice, and
adult support for peer interactions minimize the
likelihood that children will engage in problem
behavior.
3. Teaching Social Skills.
For many young children, a group care setting is their
first experience with a large group of same-age peers.
The opportunity to play and work with a group of
children also brings challenges related to social
problem solving, friendship development, conflict
resolution, and the expression of emotions. It is
important to provide children with explicit and repeated instruction on the social and emotional skills
needed for social competence. Effective teaching
includes careful planning, the provision of multiple
meaningful learning opportunities, promoting
prosocial behavior, and the use of guidance procedures
such as redirection and planned ignoring to assist
children as they navigate the development of social
relationships with peers and adults in the classroom.
4. Individualizing Behavior Intervention Efforts.
Young children may engage in a variety of problem
behaviors such as hitting, biting, and hair pulling. For
many young children, these behaviors are developmentally expected and serve as opportunities for the
adult to guide the child to learn the appropriate
behavior for a specific situation. For example, the
toddler who bites to get a toy can be told, Biting
hurts, ask to play. Based on observations of the child,
adults examine the context of the behavior to determine how to intervene. In this manner, the intervention is designed based on the unique, individualized
needs of that child. The intervention can also be used
when the child engages in persistent problem behavior
that is not developmentally expected (for example, a
3-year-old who is aggressive to get toys or objects or a
4-year-old who cries and whines for adult attention).
By understanding and recognizing the purpose or
function of the problem behavior, a teacher can select
an appropriate intervention strategy. The teacher may
initiate this process based on his or her observations of
and interactions with the child. When the behavior
persists, the intervention planning process should
include not only the teacher or caregiver but also the
family, program administrator, and mental health
consultant when possible.
5. Teaching Children Replacement Skills.
Children who use problem behavior to get their needs
met are often missing important social or communication skills. Individual intervention efforts should be
developed based on an understanding of the behavior
and the identification of the skills that the child needs
to learn. Once the team has identified what to teach
the child, a behavior support plan can be designed that
includes prevention strategies that minimize the
childs continuing use of the problem behavior,
instructional strategies to teach new skills, and responses to the behavior that ensure that the problem
behavior does not give the child access to his or her
desired outcome.
6. Providing Specialized Services.
Children with severe, persistent behavior challenges
may need assessment and support from other professionals (e.g., mental health, special education, or
medical consultants) who can team with the early
educator in the provision of comprehensive interventions and support to the child and family. In these
situations, services may need to extend beyond the
early childhood program and include support to the
family within the home and community. The early
educator should work collaboratively as a team
member with other professionals in the design,
implementation, and ongoing evaluation of specialized
services and supports.
August 2004
7. Involving Families.
Programs should provide information to families about
the classroom discipline plan, including the details of
how and when time-out will be used for aggressive
behavior. If time-out is being considered for a child,
the childs parents should be consulted. The family
should agree that the challenging behaviors are serious
and that time-out is appropriate before the procedure is
used. The team, including a mental health consultant
when possible, should work with the parents to identify
strategies for use at home.
When to Include Time-Out to Address
Challenging Behavior
teaching the child to request attention in an appropriate
manner. Time-out can also serve as an effective strategy for
interrupting the problem behavior and providing the child
with a structure for calming down, expressing feelings
(e.g., I am angryI want a turn with the dump truck),
and deciding on a social problem-solving strategy. Timeout should not be used if the child is engaging in problem
behavior to get out of an activity or to move away from
adults or peers. If time-out follows problem behavior that
serves the purpose of escaping activities or interactions that
the child finds unpleasant or boring, providing the child
with a time-out could serve to strengthen the problem
behavior.
Planning for the Use of Time-Out
When the strategies described above are in place, time-out
may be used to intervene with a child who does not respond to redirection or the teachers guidance to follow
behavior expectations. If the child is not responsive to the
teacher and is engaging in problem behavior that is disruptive to the classroom or hurtful to other children, time-out
can provide the child with a chance to calm down. Once
the child is calm, the teacher should address the behavior
with the child (e.g., talk about the problem situation, restate
behavior expectations, explore problem-solving options).
Time-out may also become a planned procedure for removing a child from engaging in problem behavior that serves
the purpose of gaining the teachers or peers attention. For
example, if a child destroys other childrens materials or
activities to gain access to teacher attention, a time-out may
be used to remove the child from any attention paired with
9 As discussed above, before using time-out, there
should be evidence that the challenging behaviors have
not improved even when high-quality preventive and
proactive practices have been implemented. In these
cases, teachers, in collaboration with families and
mental health consultants, should carefully observe and
document that the challenging behaviors are a serious
concern. The childs aggressive or disruptive behaviors
should be recorded in a way that documents when,
where, and with whom they occur (e.g., at transition or
unstructured times). Observational data also should be
used to document that time-out is leading to intended
outcomes (reductions in challenging behaviors).
Consider the following example:
Jeremy is a child who is prone to aggression. His teacher describes him as having a
short fuse and lacking play skills, particularly how to join and play with peers. The
teacher has developed a strategy for teaching Jeremy friendship skills and is working
with him on a daily basis to promote his skill development. However, sometimes Jeremy
still has incidents that are harmful to other children. For example, Jeremy was playing
alone with blocks. He saw three children having a great time playing with the train set
across the classroom. He walked over to them and grabbed a train. When the children
objected and called for the teachers assistance, Jeremy kicked the train track and hit
one of the children. The teacher moved over quickly and said, What is the problem
over here? Jeremy continued to hit and kick the other children. While the teaching
assistant attended to the hurt child, the teacher guided Jeremy to the time-out area to
calm down. Once he was calm, she asked him whether he was ready to join the other
children. Next she modeled and practiced with Jeremy how he could ask to join the
other children in their play and provided support and encouragement when he used his
words to join the other children in their play.
August 2004
9 Teachers should have extensive training in this proce-
dure and should be given opportunities to practice how,
when, and where they will use time-out. Every teacher
should have a choreographed, well-understood sequence of events. Time-out should occur within the
classroom environment and should be closely monitored.
9 Teachers should involve the support of a mental health
consultant, behavioral consultant, or an administrator
to help with determining when time-out will be used,
how it fits with the overall behavior support plan for
the individual child, and how its use will be monitored.
9 It is important for teachers to provide guidance on the
best way for children to help their friends when they
are in time-out. The teacher could say, The best way
we can help our friends calm down when in time-out is
to leave them alone and get on with our play. As soon
as our friends come back to playing, we can have fun
with them.
When it is agreed that time-out should be used, the following steps should be followed:
1. Describe the challenging behaviors so that all staff know
exactly what behaviors should result in time-out.
Young and preverbal children frequently engage in
mild pushing or aggressive behaviors. These mild
aggressive behaviors can usually be handled with a
redirect or a prompt by the teacher for the children to
use their words. Time-out should be reserved for the
highly aggressive acts, and teachers should agree on
what their threshold for these behaviors will be and
when the behaviors will result in a time-out. In addition, alternative prosocial behaviors should be specified that can be taught and encouraged in place of the
challenging behaviors. These alternative behaviors
should be taught and encouraged throughout the day at
times when the problem behavior is not occurring.
calm down and are ready to re-join the ongoing
classroom activity. This practice can help children
develop self-calming behaviors.
4. Time-out provides the child with a chance to try again.
That is, children are given an opportunity to reengage
in the activity from which they were removed and thus
learn a more adaptive, prosocial method of dealing
with the difficulty or conflict they were experiencing.
5. Remember that time-out is only effective if it is used
infrequently. Alternatives to time-out should be used
whenever possible. For instance, when a serious
challenging behavior occurs, teachers might interrupt
the behavior and redirect the child to a more appropriate way of interacting or to another activity.
6. If a classroom activity is not rewarding to the child or if
a lesson is too difficult, the child may display disruptive behavior that leads to time-out. Remember, it is
time-out from positive reinforcement, and some
children may behave in ways to avoid certain activities
and go to time-out instead. If the challenging behavior
persists, particularly around certain activities or
settings, the child may be avoiding those activities by
going to time-out.
7. If the challenging behaviors persist despite considerable
encouragement for prosocial behaviors and use of
time-out, observe the child again to determine what is
maintaining the aggressive or disruptive behavior.
Evaluate the plan to be sure the child is not getting
attention from other adults or peers for misbehavior
and determine whether a more meaningful reinforcement system is needed to motivate the child to use
more appropriate behaviors.
2. When the challenging behavior occurs, provide a very
brief explanation (such as You cannot hit your friends,
so you need to sit in time-out until youre calm.) and
immediately guide the child to sit in a chair. Do not
interact with the child, either positively or negatively,
while the child is in time-out. Time-out should be
carried out by teachers in a calm, respectful, nonangry,
nonstigmatizing way.
3. Time-out is brief, usually 3 to 4 minutes. However, some
children will take longer to calm down than others, and
individual differences should be respected. Time-out
needs to be monitored carefully and ended by the
teacher once the child has calmed down. Children
quickly learn that time-out will be over as soon as they
August 2004
Example: Kara is a 4-year-old child enrolled in a community preschool program. She has difficulty
when playing with peers that includes knocking over block structures, grabbing dress-up clothes
from peers, hitting children who are in centers with her, and hitting children on the playground.
When an adult intervenes, she hits and pinches the adult and becomes even more aggressive. The
classroom team members have talked with the family, and they all think that Kara engages in these
behaviors to get the attention of the adults in the classroom or to gain a preferred toy. They are
trying to give Kara more attention when she is behaving appropriately and are teaching her to ask to
play with a toy, to wait her turn for an item, or to ask an adult for help. Meanwhile, there are occasions when Kara continues to engage in the behavior, and the adults feel that Kara needs to be
removed from the situation to calm down and remember the expectations of the classroom. The
classroom team members, in consultation with their director and mental health consultant as well as
Karas family, have decided to use time-out to guide Kara to a chair to calm down when she is
aggressive. Karas teacher reminds Kara each morning that she should ask for toys or ask an adult
to help her. Kara has also been told that when she hits or kicks, she will have to go to the thinking
chair to calm down and remember the classroom rules.
The next day, Kara kicked over a childs block construction. The teacher approached her, and Kara
kicked the teacher and grabbed another child. The teacher stated firmly, Kara, you may not kick.
You need to sit in the thinking chair and calm down. Kara was guided to a chair in the classroom
and told to sit down. The teacher then set a timer for 3 minutes, during which she minimized conversation and attention to Kara by moving away from Kara and not talking with her. When the timer
rang, the teacher moved over to Kara and calmly said, You are calm now. You may go play with
your friends. Lets practice what you say to a friend when you want to play with them. You can say,
Can I play with you? Karas teacher then walks over with Kara and prompts her use of asking
skills and praises her enthusiastically when she remembers to ask to play instead of grabbing.
Indications That There Is a Problem with the
Use of Time-Out
It is important to recognize that time-out can be overused
or used incorrectly. In such cases, it is very important that
teachers and all other personnel be sensitive to the signs of
trouble. The following are indications that time-out is not
working and may be creating problems and a negative
atmosphere in the classroom:
9 Teachers are threatening children with time-out if
9
9
9
they do not behave.
9 Certain children are repeatedly in time-out, day after
day for long periods of time. If the challenging behavior continues to persist, a new behavior support plan
should be developed. Some children with persistent
challenging behavior may require additional assess-
9
9
ment and support services or mental health consultation to fully address their needs.
Time-out is being used when the teacher wants a break
from the child.
Children are teasing the child when he or she is in
time-out.
Time-out is used as the only approach to dealing with
problem behaviors, rather than as a strategy used in
conjunction with many other classroom management
strategies (e.g., praise, ignoring, redirection).
Teachers engage in a physical struggle to guide the
child to time-out or hold the child in the time-out chair.
Placing a child in time-out is accompanied by scolding
or berating the child.
August 2004
http://csefel.uiuc.edu
Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
We welcome your feedback on this What Works Brief. Please go to the CSEFEL Web site
(http://csefel.uiuc.edu) or call us at (217) 333-4123 to offer suggestions.
Where Do I Find More Information on Implementing This Practice?
See the CSEFEL Web site (http://csefel.uiuc.edu) for additional resources including numerous other What
Works Briefs on related topics.
Practical information on prevention strategies and strategies for addressing problem behavior can be found in
journals such as Young Children. See the following articles and books for how and when to use time-out
appropriately:
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (1998).
Guidance for effective discipline. Pediatrics, 101(4), 723-728.
American Psychological Association and National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2004).
Adults and children together against violence: Early violence preventionDiscipline at home, Discipline at childcare center & school. Available: http://www.actagainstviolence.org/discipline/index.html
Howard, B. J. (2002). Time out. In M. Jellinek, B. P. Patel, & M. C. Froehle (Eds.), Bright futures in practice:
Mental health. Vol. II,tool kit. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child
Health.
Kaiser, B., & Rasminsky, J. S. (2003). Challenging behavior in young children: Understanding, preventing,
and responding effectively. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Landy, S. (2002). Pathways to competence: Encouraging healthy social and emotional development in young
children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
Schreiber, M. E. (1999). Time-outs for toddlers: Is our goal punishment or education? Young Children, 54(4),
22-25.
Slaby, R. G., Roedell, W. C., Arezzo, D., & Hendrix, K. (1995). Early violence prevention: Tools for teachers
of young children. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Webster-Stratton, C. (1999). How to promote childrens social and emotional competence. London: Paul
Chapman.
August 2004
http://csefel.uiuc.edu
Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
We welcome your feedback on this What Works Brief. Please go to the CSEFEL Web site
(http://csefel.uiuc.edu) or call us at (217) 333-4123 to offer suggestions.
What Is the Scientific Basis for This Practice?
For those wishing to explore this topic further, the following researchers have studied time-out:
Brestan, E. V., & Eyberg, S. M. (1998). Effective psychosocial treatments of conduct disordered children and
adolescents: 29 years, 82 studies, and 5272 kids. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27(2), 180-189.
Mace, F. C., Page, T. J., Ivancic, M. T., & OBrien, S. (1986). Effectiveness of brief time-out with and without
contingent delay: A comparative analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 19(1), 79-86.
Porterfield, J. K., Herbert-Jackson, E., & Risley, T. R. (1976). Contingent observation: An effective and
acceptable procedure for reducing disruptive behavior of young children in a group setting. Journal of
Applied Behavior Analysis, 9(1), 55-64.
Sherbourne, S., Utley, B., McConnell, S., & Gannon, J. (1988). Decreasing violent or aggressive theme play
among preschool children with behavior disorders. Exceptional Children, 55(2), 166-172.
Turner, S. T., & Watson, T. S. (1999). Consultants guide for the use of time-out in the preschool and elementary classroom. Psychology in the Schools, 36(2), 135-148.
Webster-Stratton, C., Reid, M. J., & Hammond, M. (2001). Preventing conduct problems, promoting social
competence: A parent and teacher training partnership in Head Start. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(3), 283-302.
This What Works Brief was developed by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning under the
guidance of Glen Dunlap, Lise Fox, Mary Louise Hemmeter, and Phil Strain.
This material was developed by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (Cooperative Agreement N. PHS 90YD0119). The contents of this publication do not necessarily
reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial projects, or organizations
imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. You may reproduce this material for training and information purposes.
The Role of Time-Out in a Comprehensive Approach for Addressing
Challenging Behaviors of Preschool Children
WHAT WORKS BRIEFS
August 2004
