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A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
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Prevalence of renewal of problem behavior during context changes
Colin Muething1, Nathan Call1, Alexis Pavlov1
1Marcus Autism Center, Emory University School of Medicine.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|January 8, 2020
Summary
Renewal, the return of eliminated problem behavior after a context change, was observed in 42.3% of cases. This renewal effect was significant but temporary, with behavior rates decreasing over time.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral science
- Clinical psychology
- Psychology
Background:
- Renewal describes the reemergence of previously eliminated behaviors after a change in environmental context.
- Understanding renewal is crucial for clinical practice, particularly when patients transition between settings, like returning home after treatment.
- Anticipating renewal can help mitigate the resurgence of problem behaviors in real-world clinical scenarios.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence and magnitude of the renewal effect in clinical settings.
- To assess how often previously treated problem behaviors reemerge following a context change.
- To quantify the impact of renewal on behavior rates in the initial sessions post-context change.
Main Methods:
- A consecutive case-series analysis was conducted.
- Data were collected across 182 instances of context change.
- Behavioral treatment data for problem behavior were analyzed to identify and measure renewal.
Main Results:
- Renewal was observed in 77 out of 182 context changes (42.3%).
- Following a context change, problem behavior rates initially increased by a factor of 3.
- These elevated rates transiently decreased across subsequent sessions.
Conclusions:
- The renewal effect appears to be a common phenomenon in clinical practice.
- While renewal can lead to a temporary increase in problem behavior, it is transient.
- Behavioral rates following renewal tend to return to pre-context change levels over time.
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