{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T08:12:18Z","timestamp":1787904738285,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,8]],"date-time":"2025-11-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1762560000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs","award":["H325K200051"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["H325K200051"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly struggle with self-regulation skills, which can lead to less social inclusion, difficulties with peer and teacher interactions, low academic performance and high levels of challenging behaviors. Alternatively, when students are equipped with strong self-regulatory capabilities, their social development and academic performance is enhanced, leading to improved well-being, increased attention in the classroom, and lower levels of challenging behaviors. Research suggests that the use of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) may show promising results in improving observable behaviors such as academic engagement and challenging behaviors in the classroom. However, much of the current literature focuses on the positive effects of PMR solely when targeting private events, such as anxiety, executive functioning, and autonomic arousal. The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary examination to explore the effects of brief video-based PMR to increase academic engagement in the classroom with three elementary school students diagnosed with ASD. Using visual and statistical analyses, the results from this study showed that PMR showed promising increases in academic engagement across all three participants. Social validity ratings indicated that the teacher and participants were satisfied with the intervention and rated PMR as a feasible and acceptable behavior-management strategy in the classroom. While social validity outcomes were positive, they were limited as they consisted of short Likert-type scale questions completed by one single teacher and three students. Given the small sample size of this exploratory study, future studies should incorporate additional participants and evaluate the long-term impacts of PMR for improving engagement and academic outcomes for students with ASD.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs15111516","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,10]],"date-time":"2025-11-10T08:57:55Z","timestamp":1762765075000},"page":"1516","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Using Progressive Muscle Relaxation to Increase Academic Engagement for Elementary School Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Lillian","family":"McCook","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of Sout Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9101-4226","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marissa L.","family":"Del Vecchio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of Sout Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kimberly","family":"Crosland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of Sout Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rasd.2009.07.002","article-title":"Surviving in the mainstream: Capacity of children with autism spectrum disorders to perform academically and regulate their emotions and behavior at school","volume":"4","author":"Ashburner","year":"2010","journal-title":"Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160","DOI":"10.1177\/00224669060400030401","article-title":"Effects of behavior support team composition on the technical adequacy and contextual fit of behavior support plans","volume":"40","author":"Benazzi","year":"2006","journal-title":"The Journal of Special Education"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1086\/525550","article-title":"Mathematics growth in early elementary school: The roles of beginning knowledge, student engagement, and instruction","volume":"108","author":"Bodovski","year":"2007","journal-title":"The Elementary School Journal"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsp.2019.10.002","article-title":"Teacher stress and burnout in urban middle schools: Associations with job demands, resources and effective classroom practices","volume":"77","author":"Bottiani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of School Psychology"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1177\/10983007241268784","article-title":"The effects of self-monitoring with I-Connect to increase on-task behavior of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders","volume":"27","author":"Crosland","year":"2025","journal-title":"Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"208","article-title":"Self-regulation and school success","volume":"Vol. 40","author":"Sokol","year":"2013","journal-title":"Self-regulation and autonomy: Social and developmental dimensions of human conduct"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1044","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-010-1127-3","article-title":"Discrepancies between academic achievement and intellectual ability in higher-functioning school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder","volume":"41","author":"Estes","year":"2011","journal-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Estevez, I., Rodriguez-Llorente, C., Pineiro, I., Gonzalez-Suarez, R., and Valle, A. 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