Clinical Applications of Behavioral Assessment

Abstract

This article presents a case study of a family with marital, substance-use, mood, external-stressors, and parent–child difficulties to illustrate the principles and methods of pretreatment behavioral assessment. Several guiding principles are discussed: an emphasis on identifying functional relations relevant to behavior problems and treatment goals, especially those that help us explain behavior problems; a multimodal focus during assessment, attending to overt behavior, thoughts, emotions, and physiology; the importance of the conditional and contextual nature of behavior; an emphasis on temporally contiguous and environmental events, thoughts, and emotions in triggering and maintaining behavior problems; the dynamic nature of behavior problems and causal variables; an emphasis on specificity and precision of measurement; and individual differences in the elements, correlates, and causes of behavior problems. A diverse set of methods is congruent with the principles of behavioral assessment and includes behavioral interviews and questionnaires, observation in natural and analog environments, and self- and instrument-aided monitoring of behavior and events in natural and analog environments.

Couple and family assessment.

“…Data from the interview lead to initial hypotheses about ways in which various behaviors, emotions, cognitions, and external stressors contribute to distress and guide a functional analysis. These hypotheses contribute to the eventual case formulation that, in turn, affects decisions about an optimal treatment strategy (see Haynes & Williams, 2003;Haynes et al, 2009). Assessment interviews continue throughout treatment and help to identify new barriers and challenges to treatment, clarify treatment goals, and evaluate treatment outcomes and process.…”