Experimental functional analyses for challenging behavior: a study of validity and reliability

Do Functional Analyses Probe Learning Histories, Or Create Them? An Exploratory Investigation

During functional analysis (FA), therapists arrange contingencies between potential reinforcers and problem behavior. It is unclear whether this fact, in and of itself, facilitates problem behavior's acquisition of new (false-positive) functions. If problem behavior can come under the control of contingencies contrived between it and known reinforcers for which there is no direct history, then outcomes of reinforcer analysis (RA) should perfectly predict FA outcomes. This study evaluated the degree to which RA outcomes corresponded with FA outcomes for eight participants referred to a university-based outpatient clinic for problem behavior. For 75% (6 of 8) of participants, correspondence was imperfect. These findings appear to support the construct validity of contemporary interpretations of FA data.

Questions About Behavioral Function in Mental Illness (QABF-MI)

The Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF), a 25-item rating scale, was developed to identify the function(s) of maladaptive behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. The authors adapted it for use with individuals with serious mental illness who engage in maladaptive behavior and assessed the psychometric characteristics of the new scale (Questions About Behavioral Function in Mental Illness; QABF-MI) in a sample of 135 adults with serious mental illness from three inpatient psychiatric hospitals. Staff most familiar with each person rated each item on a 5-point Likert-type rating scale, and the ratings were subjected to a number of psychometric analyses. The results of factor analyses provided a conceptually meaningful five-factor solution: physical discomfort, social attention, tangible reinforcement, escape, and nonsocial reinforcement. Congruence between the five factors derived with the QABF-MI and the corresponding factors in the original QABF was perfect. The results indicated that the QABF-MI has robust psychometric properties and may be useful as a screening tool for determining the nature of the variables that maintain maladaptive behavior exhibited by individuals with serious mental illness.

Functional Assessment of Problem Behaviors in Adults with Mental Retardation

Functional assessment has significantly improved the success of behavioral treatment of problem behaviors in adults with mental retardation. Functional assessment methods (i.e., techniques that yield a hypothesis of functional relationships) include direct observation, interviews, and checklists. Functional analysis consists of empirical methods that demonstrate behavioral function in controlled settings. Each method has advantages and limitations that reflect differences in both available resources and individual client characteristics. These methods and issues are reviewed, and future directions for both the research field and the adult population are suggested.

The Validity of Functional Behavioral Assessment with Students of Average Intellectual Ability

In the United States, functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a new requirement of the 1997 Amendments to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for students who exhibit challenging behavior. FBA has been extensively studied with persons with severe and profound intellectual disabilities within clinical settings. However, there is limited research with students with average intellectual ability in public education settings. This article reviews seven pertinent validity indices associated with FBA: external validity, content validity, convergent validity, criterion validity, treatment validity, social validity, and habilitative validity. In short, much research is needed to inform practitioners about conducting valid FBAwith students with average intellectual ability.

RETRACTED: Functional variables of challenging behavior in individuals with intellectual disabilities

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in Chief, after review by an independent panel of experts, due to evidence of a compromised peer review process and the failure of one author to disclose significant conflicts of interest. An independent peer-review process is a cornerstone of scientific integrity that allows for research to be scrutinized before publication to ensure that conclusions are anchored in sound methodology and objective interpretation of the results. Equally important is that the readership of research is fully informed about any potential competing interests that may have influenced the research process. This article is being retracted because it did not include a declaration of a conflict of interest of one author in relation to diagnostic tools which the paper endorses. The same author was also the Editor in Chief of the journal at the time of publication and evidence indicates that the paper was accepted without any independent peer review by external reviewers. The article is therefore retracted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of Elsevier: https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/publishing-ethics and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction-guidelines.pdf.

Examining the operant function of challenging behavior in young males with fragile X syndrome: a summary of 12 cases

This study used experimental functional analyses to examine the operant function of challenging behaviors exhibited by 12 males (ages 27-51 months) with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Eight children met criteria for negatively reinforced challenging behavior in the form of escape from demands and/or escape from social interactions. Nine children met criteria for positively reinforced challenging behavior in the form of obtaining access to highly preferred items. Attention was identified as a maintaining consequence for three children. The functional analysis was inconclusive for one child. Results suggest that, for young males with FXS, challenging behaviors may more likely be tangibly and escape maintained than attention maintained. Our findings affirm past research suggesting a unique behavioral phenotype for this population.

Examining the function of problem behavior in fragile X syndrome: preliminary experimental analysis

Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited cause of intellectual and developmental disability. The influence of environmental variables on behaviors associated with the syndrome has received only scant attention. The current study explored the function served by problem behavior in fragile X syndrome by using experimental functional analysis methodology with 8 children with fragile X. No child met criteria for attention-maintained problem behavior, 5 children met criteria for escape-maintained problem behavior, and 4 children met criteria for tangible-maintained problem behavior. Results are discussed and compared with previous findings on the function of problem behavior in fragile X syndrome, and implications for intervention are discussed. It is noted that the external validity of these findings is limited by the small sample size.

Comparing functional assessment methodologies: a quantitative synthesis

There has been much research concerning functional assessment over the past 20 years, but several important research considerations have yet to be explained. One is the comparison of different types of functional assessment (e.g., experimental functional analysis and non-experimental functional assessment). The current study aims to compare the different methodologies of functional assessment and their effectiveness in ascribing function to a target behavior and in the treatment selection that follows such an assessment. Quantitative synthesis data were used to answer questions regarding behavioral function, assessment type, and treatment effectiveness. Results indicate that assessment type can impact treatment effectiveness and that there is a relationship between behavior type and ascribed function.

Functional assessment of challenging behavior: toward a strategy for applied settings

The development of experimental functional analysis and more recently functional analysis checklists have become common technologies for evaluating antecedent events and the consequences of problematic behaviors. Children and developmentally disabled persons across the life span with challenging behaviors have been the primary focus of this research. The primary purpose of this paper is to present an overview the developments in this rapidly expanding research literature, particularly as it involves the application of the functional assessment paradigm in applied settings where resources and time are scarce. Implication of the functional assessment research for clinical practice are discussed along with strengths and weakness of the current technology.

A descriptive analysis of potential reinforcement contingencies in the preschool classroom

In recent years, functional analysis methods have been extended to classroom settings; however, research has not evaluated the extent to which consequences presented during functional analysis are associated with problem behavior under naturalistic classroom conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether the social consequences commonly manipulated in functional analyses occur in typical preschool classrooms. A total of 14 children attending preschool programs participated in the study. Data were collected on the occurrence of antecedent events (e.g., presentation of tasks), child behaviors (e.g., aggression), and teacher responses (e.g., delivery of attention). The probability of various teacher responses given child behavior was then calculated and compared to the response-independent probabilities of teacher responses. Attention was found to be the most common classroom consequence (100% of children), followed by material presentation (79% of children), and escape from instructional tasks (33% of children). Comparisons of conditional and response-independent probabilities showed that the probability of teacher attention increased given the occurrence of problem behavior for all children, suggesting that a contingency existed between these two events. Results suggest that functional analyses that test the effects of attention, escape, and access to materials on problem behavior may be appropriate for preschool settings.

Functional analysis of problem behavior: a review

Functional analysis methodology focuses on the identification of variables that influence the occurrence of problem behavior and has become a hallmark of contemporary approaches to behavioral assessment. In light of the widespread use of pretreatment functional analyses in articles published in this and other journals, we reviewed the literature in an attempt to identify best practices and directions for future research. Studies included in the present review were those in which (a) a pretreatment assessment based on (b) direct observation and measurement of (c) problem behavior was conducted under (d) at least two conditions involving manipulation of an environmental variable in an attempt (e) to demonstrate a relation between the environmental event and behavior. Studies that met the criteria for inclusion were quantified and critically evaluated along a number of dimensions related to subject and setting characteristics, parametric and qualitative characteristics of the methodology, types of assessment conditions, experimental designs, topographies of problem behaviors, and the manner in which data were displayed and analyzed.

Assessment of the convergent validity of the Questions About Behavioral Function scale with analogue functional analysis and the Motivation Assessment Scale

The present study examined the convergent validity of the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) scale, a behavioural checklist for assessing variables maintaining aberrant behaviour, with analogue functional analyses and the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS). The two checklists were more highly correlated with each other than either checklist with results from the analogue sessions, and the QABF was more highly correlated with analogue sessions than the MAS. Using analogue sessions, the experimenters failed to ascertain behavioural function for a number of subjects because the behaviour problems in question were low frequency/high intensity and failed to appear during the course of the analysis, pointing out a limitation of this technology. These findings, taken together with recent research outlining the psychometric properties of the QABF, seem to support the use of the QABF in a hierarchical model of functional analysis. The implications of the findings are discussed.

An evaluation of functional variables affecting severe problem behaviors in adults with mental retardation by using the Questions about Behavioral Function Scale (QABF)

We examined the functions of five severe problem behaviors in a sample of 417 institutionalized persons with mental retardation by using the Questions About Behavior Function Scale. The behaviors we examined included self-injurious behavior, aggression, stereotypies, pica, and rumination. The most common function for all behaviors except aggression was nonsocial. Aggression, however, was maintained by external environmental contingencies. Particular items of the Questions About Behavior Function Scale were identified as more frequently occurring and critical in ascertaining behavioral function. Implications of these results for developing more effective treatment plans are discussed.

A validity study on the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) Scale: predicting treatment success for self-injury, aggression, and stereotypies

We investigated the validity of the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF), a checklist designed to assess antecedent behavior, using a sample of 398 persons with mental retardation and a targeted maladaptive behavior of self-injurious behavior, aggression, or stereotypies. The QABF was used successfully to derive clear behavioral functions for most individuals (84%) across all three target behaviors. Further, subjects with treatments developed from functional assessment (QABF results) improved significantly when compared to controls receiving standard treatments not based on functional analysis. Implications of the present findings for assessing and treating maladaptive behaviors are discussed.