Understanding and Reacting to Relapse: Considerations for Practitioners

Severe challenging behaviors, such as aggression and self-injurious behavior, have a high comorbidity with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Hill et al., 2014; Soke et al., 2016). Although we have effective assessment and treatment procedures for severe challenging behavior, the relapse of severe challenging behavior following effective treatment is highly prevalent (Briggs et al., 2018; Falligant et al., 2022; Haney et al., 2022; Muething et al., 2021). Effective in 2025, the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BACB) Test Content Outline (TCO; 6th ed.) includes a task-item requirement for Board Certified Behavior Analysts to plan for and attempt to mitigate possible relapse (BACB, 2022). Thus, it is important for practitioners to understand the variables that impact relapse of severe challenging behavior, and it is critical that they have access to tools to help them in preparing for and reacting to relapse in practice. The purpose of the current paper is to provide (a) a consumable framework on relapse for practitioners and (b) considerations for practitioners on managing relapse when it occurs.