Parent treatment integrity across multiple components of a behavioral intervention

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often present with challenging behaviors such as aggression, tantrums, or noncompliance. Behavior analytic interventions are considered evidence‐based for decreasing challenging behaviors and may include a combination of strategies to teach replacement behaviors and prevent and respond to challenging behaviors. However, multi‐component interventions are often implemented in treatment settings by professionals and effects may not generalize to the home. Little research has explored the levels of treatment integrity with which multi‐component interventions are implemented by parents. This study evaluated the use of behavior skills training (BST) with ongoing coaching to train parents of two children with ASD to implement multi‐component behavioral interventions in the home to decrease challenging behaviors. Treatment integrity was monitored for each treatment component, and attempts were made to minimize barriers to treatment integrity. Results support the use of BST with ongoing coaching. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

A Meta-Analysis of Treatment for Self-Injurious Behavior in Children and Adolescents With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

“…Such attention is necessary to better understand whether and how best practices in controlled clinical settings translate to natural environments. Recent calls for enhanced efforts toward generalization and maintenance (e.g., Jeglum et al, 2022; Nuta et al, 2021; Podlesnik et al, 2017), consideration of social validity (e.g., Lambert et al, 2022; Nicolson et al, 2020), and measurement of implementation fidelity (e.g., Falakfarsa et al, 2022; Han et al, 2022) reflect the evolution of contemporary best practices in the field. Indeed, section 2.14 in the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2020) calls on clinicians to select, design, and implement behavior-change interventions that “best meet the diverse needs, context, and resources of the client and stakeholders” and “produce outcomes likely to maintain under naturalistic conditions.”…”

A functional approach to borderline personality disorder

“…Applied behavior analysis (ABA) interventions have shown great utility in addressing significant behavioral challenges in both children and adult populations. Some areas of intervention that have yielded consistent successful outcomes are aggressive behaviors (e.g., Hernández et al., 2018; Nuta et al., 2021), self‐injurious behaviors (e.g., Magnusson & Gould, 2007; Thompson et al., 1999), anxiety and low‐mood problems (e.g., Garcia‐Palacios & Botella, 2003; Lawm et al., 1994; Sturmey, 2009), substance abuse behaviors (e.g., Alessi et al., 2008; Ledgerwood et al., 2008), and problematic eating behaviors (e.g., Ghaderi, 2007). One of the key aspects to achieving these outcomes is the rigorous use of the functional analysis tool as it allows the identification of functional relations between problem responses and the contextual variables that control them (Hanley et al., 2003).…”