Bibliographic Analysis of Research Trends in Positive Behavior Support*

Abstract

In the 1980s, Positive Behavior Support (PBS) emerged in response to inappropriate or abusive outcomes applied to students with developmental disabilities such as intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. Throughout its half-century history, PBS has made a lot of progress. This study systematically reviewed research in the PBS field using bibliometric analysis. To perform this study, 530 papers on PBS were extracted from the Web of Science database (1996-2023) and visual analysis of PBS research trends was conducted using the “CiteSpace” tool. The results are as follows: Firstly, based on the number of published studies related to PBS, the timeline can be divided into four phases: (1) the initial period from 1996 to 2001, (2) the growth period from 2002 to 2015, (3) the maturity period from 2016 to 2020, and (4) the adjustment period from 2021 to the present. Secondly, based on the number of authors in PBS-related studies, researchers such as R. H. Horner, K. McIntosh, G. Sugai, T. J. Dishion, and G. Dunlap are taking a leading position. Thirdly, based on the keywords of PBS-related research, research hot-spots are concentrated in areas such as intervention, students, children, implementation, and challenging behaviors. Fourthly, based on the keyword cluster of PBS-related research, while there was initially an emphasis on individual student behavior problems, recent emphasis has shifted towards school-wide application. This study contributes to understanding the historical progress and future directions of PBS research, aiding in the systematic comprehension of PBS development and application trends.