Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 39, Issue 2, June 2008, Pages 151-161
Behavior Therapy

Identifying Empirically Supported Treatments for Phobic Avoidance in Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2007.06.003Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature regarding the treatment of phobic avoidance in individuals with intellectual disabilities. Criteria for classifying interventions as empirically supported, developed by the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 12 Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures, were used. For studies employing single case experimental designs, criteria developed by APA Division 16 (Kratochwill & Stoiber, 2002; Shernoff, Kratochwill, & Stoiber, 2002) were used to supplement Division 12 criteria. Results indicate that behavioral treatment can be designated as a well-established treatment for phobic avoidance in individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Section snippets

Article selection

Articles were initially located by reviewing published studies listed in the PsycINFO and PubMed databases between 1970 and February 2007. Two search terms, one from each category, were always combined and each term was combined with every other term in the other category. The terms were as follows: (a) mental retardation, intellectual disability, developmental disability, developmental disorder, autism, or autistic disorder; and (b) avoidant behavior, avoidance, anxiety, anxiety disorder,

Single-case experiments

Each study was coded for experimental control as well as whether the participants attained the treatment goal (based on the criteria described above). Twelve of 13 studies using single-case designs demonstrated treatment efficacy through the use of good experimental design (see Table 1). It should be noted that, although all of the studies compared the treatment to a baseline condition, one study (Conyers et al., 2004) also compared two treatments (for 2 of 6 participants) after the first

Discussion

Although there is an extensive body of research on the treatment of anxiety in typically developing individuals, a relatively small number of studies have been published describing the treatment of phobic avoidance in individuals with intellectual disabilities. Based on our adaptation of criteria described by Divisions 12 and 16 for determining whether an intervention can be characterized as an empirically supported treatment, we concluded that there is sufficient empirical support to

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