Association for Behavior Analysis International

Individuals who have been diagnosed with developmental disabilities often engage in a variety of problem behaviors. Often, families resort to medication to treat such behaviors and frequently believe that behavior may be decreased through the implementation of drug therapy. The research has indicated that both functional and descriptive analysis can be helpful in identifying functions of behaviors which can lead to more effective behavioral treatments. However, when medication is regularly titrated it is possible for the functions of behavior to change. Consequently, this could inhibit less restrictive treatments. Research on the effects of drug therapy and alternative restrictive methodologies will be discussed and implications of future research will be identified.

The effect of drug therapy on aggressive behaviors has been evaluated in multiple studies. It has been demonstrated that when medications are introduced during assessment they can alter the functions of behavior. This alteration may result in incorrect function based interventions. The results of both a descriptive analysis and functional analysis of severe aggression and self injurious behavior in an adult with autism and an intellectual disability concluded that behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands and by positive reinforcement in the form access to a restraint. The present study examines the effects of drug therapy on a variety of function based interventions. Results suggest that when medication is provided inconsistently, functions of behaviors may be altered. Consequently, incorrect function based interventions necessitated the use of more restrictive procedures to reduce severe behavior.

Studies have shown that the function of physical aggression in certain individuals may be to gain access to physical restraint in order to meet a sensory function. In most cases, staff must restrain these individuals to maintain the safety of the person and others in their environment. The results of both a descriptive analysis and functional analysis of severe aggression and self injurious behavior in an adult with autism and an intellectual disability concluded that behavior was maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands and by positive reinforcement in the form access to a restraint. The present study evaluates the use of an unorthodox restrictive procedure that makes it possible to secure an aggressive individuals behavior while extinguishing sensory reinforcement. This resulted in decreased occurrences and duration of episodes of aggressive behavior, while minimizing risks of injury to staff in spite of multiple medication changes.

Parents with children who have been recently diagnosed with autism tend to be eager to try many different treatments to better the chances of their children having an easier future. During early intervention, parents can become disenchanted with slow or subtle progress and will lean towards the resources western culture has established as effective. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of drug therapy combined with positive behavioral supports with alternative restrictive procedures on severe self injurious behavior. The results of a functional assessment were inconclusive at identifying a function. While medications continued to be unstable, the subject was able to make gains in certain developmental domains while using persistent positive behavioral supports and alternative restrictive procedures. This demonstrates that despite regular titration of medication, behavioral therapy reliably produced positive gains.