Therapist and setting influences on functional analysis outcomes.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Clinical Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Functional analyses (FAs) are crucial for understanding problem behavior.
• Controlled settings minimize confounding variables but may yield different results than naturalistic conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the correspondence between functional analyses conducted in a clinic versus home settings.
• To identify factors contributing to dissimilar outcomes when they occur.

Main Methods:

• Compared FAs performed by clinic staff with those conducted by caregivers in the home.
• Conducted secondary analyses to investigate discrepancies between the two settings.

Main Results:

• High correspondence was observed between clinic-based and home-based functional analyses in most cases.
• Familiar and unfamiliar stimuli generally yielded consistent functional results across settings.

Conclusions:

• Findings support the reliability of functional analyses across different settings.
• Implications for research and clinical practice in evaluating problem behavior are discussed.