Interventions with Challenging Behavior of Persons with Developmental Disabilities: A Review of Current Research Practices

Abstract

The published intervention research on the remediation of challenging behavior of persons with developmental disabilities was reviewed. A total of 179 studies over a recent 5-year period (1 988 through 1992) were reviewed for adherence to certain standards of practice, including the use of functional assessment, function-treatment matching, level of intervention intrusiveness, monitoring of collateral behaviors, follow-up, and generalization. Results are presented with regard to each standard of practice and the relations among practices. The results largely support meaningful improvements in the state of the intervention literature since the time of several previous reviews. Areas of progress are noted and continuing dejcits are discussed.DESCRIPTORS: applied behavior analysis, behavior management, challenging behavior, collateral effects, developmental disabilities, functional assessment, nonaversive procedures, punishment, research, standards of practice Certain methodological practices consistently have been described as being important in the implementation and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Foremost among these practices is the performance of a This research was funded by a grant to the first author from the West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, which is gratefully acknowledged. Portions of this manuscript were presented at the 1994 (May) convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA. A bibliography of the articles reviewed here is available from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC; Scotti et al., 1995). The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of Andrea Magruda, and the helpful comments of the reviewers.Correspondence should be directed to

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