Original Article
A validity study on the questions about behavioral function (qabf) scale: predicting treatment success for self-injury, aggression, and stereotypies

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Abstract

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.

Section snippets

Experiment 1

The purpose of Experiment 1 was to establish the percentage of individuals whose maladaptive behaviors were ascribed clear behavioral functions through QABF functional analysis. Additionally, we sought to identify the behavioral antecedents that were most common for self-injurious behavior (SIB), aggression, and stereotypies.

Participants

A total of 398 individuals from a developmental center in Louisiana were studied. Participants exhibited either SIB, aggression, or stereotypies severe enough to be identified by the habilitation team as needing treatment. Participants were diagnosed with severe or profound mental retardation based on DSM-IV criteria, including deficits in intellectual and adaptive functioning evident before 18 years of age (APA, 1994). Individuals evincing only one aberrant behavior were placed in the group

Results

We conducted analyses to establish the percentage of individuals in each of the maladaptive behavior groups with a clear behavioral antecedent on the QABF. Clear behavioral functions (defined as subscales with a minimum score of 4 of 5 possible endorsements on a subscale with no other subscales containing significant endorsements) were found for 84% of the total sample. Additionally, we evaluated the antecedents that were the most prominent for each aberrant behavior and the average total

Discussion

The results of Experiment 1 support the past findings about the primary functions of maladaptive behaviors Applegate et al in press, Repp et al 1988. For example, Iwata et al. (1994) found that SIB was maintained by both nonsocial and escape factors. Treatments addressing deficits in communication skills as well as manipulations to increase environmental stimulation seem warranted in these cases. Stereotypies were also maintained by nonsocial contingencies (automatic reinforcement). This

Participants

Participants were 180 individuals drawn from the original total sample (N = 398). Individuals with treatment plans derived from the results of functional assessment were selected from the facility’s implementation database to identify those persons with implemented treatment plans based on QABF results. Each of the groups (SIB, aggression, stereotypies) was then separated into a 30-member treatment group and 30-member control group to conduct analyses (6 total groups). The center was in the

Results

The experimental groups for each of the maladaptive behaviors (SIB, aggression, stereotypies) improved significantly over the 6-month observation period. Means, standard deviations, and graphs depicting overall changes in maladaptive behavior for each of the treatment and control groups derived from the SIB, aggression, and stereotypies categories appear in FIGURE 1, FIGURE 2, FIGURE 3.

Separate one-way analyses of covariance with group (treatment vs. control) as the independent variable,

Discussion

The development of treatments to train adaptive skills and decrease aberrant behaviors is the primary focus of mental health specialist in the field of developmental disabilities (Frea & Hughes, 1997). In this study, individuals with treatments driven by QABF functional analysis improved significantly more (lower frequency of aberrant behavior) when compared with persons with standard treatments not driven by functional analysis. These data are compelling in that this is by far the largest

General discussion

Functional analysis technology is important in ameliorating aberrant behavior (Malott et al., 1993). The QABF is one viable instrument for assessing the antecedents/functions of maladaptive behaviors. The QABF was used successfully to identify behavioral antecedents for most individuals in the sample (84%) and supplied information about the severity of the maladaptive behavior in question. Additionally, we were able to use the instrument to demonstrate its efficacy in treatment development, as

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