Pergamon Clinical Psychology, Review, Vol. 17, No. 7, pp. 775-790, 1997 Copyright © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. ?dl rights reserved (1272-7358/97 $17.00 + .(111 PII S0272-7358(97)00050-0 STAFF BELIEFS ABOUT THE CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH MENTAL RETARDATION Richard P. Hastings Institute of Child Health, University College London ABSTRACT. From both theoretical and practical perspectives, staff beliefs are likely to have a significant impact on the process of care for children and adults with mental retardation who engage in challenging behaviors. This paper reviaos research addressing three domains of staff beliefs: definitions of challenging behavior, causal attributions, and beliefs about appropriate intervention. In general, staff definitions were found to be at odds with formal definitions. According to care staff, challenging behaviors are actions that are difficult to manage. Staff causal attributions appear congruent with current theory, when measured with little specificity. However, when staff are asked to suggest causes of challenging behavior with clearly described functions they often fail to make appropriate attributions. Beliefs about appropriate short-term interventions suggest responses likely to develop and~or maintain challenging behavior, but beliefs about longer-term planned intervention appear to be more closely matched to contemporary practice. Reasons for this long-term~short-term distinction, based on the demands of the imme- diate situation, are proposed. Suggestions for future research on staff beliefs are discussed in detail. Finally, implications for staff training, referral practice, and for analysis and intervention with challenging behavior, are outlined. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR is probably the most researched issue in the field of mental retardation. These behaviors include self-injury, aggression toward others, property destruction, sexually inappropriate acts, and stereotyped actions. Presence of behaviors such as these can have very serious implications for children and adults with mental retardation, and for their caregivers. For example, children and adults with mental retardation who engage in challenging behaviors are at greater risk of abuse from their caregivers (Rusch, Hall, & Griffin, 1986; Zirpoli, Snell, & Loyd, 1987), their families are more likely to place them into residential care (Sherman, 1988), and they Correspondence should be addressed to Richard Hastings PhD, Department of Psychology,, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, S017 1BJ, England. 775