The effects of meal schedule and quantity on problematic behavior

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Developmental Disabilities
• Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Problematic behaviors in children with developmental disabilities can be influenced by various factors.
• Previous research suggests a link between environmental variables and behavior.
• The role of establishing operations in modulating behavior is a key concept.

Purpose of the Study:

• To illustrate how meal schedules and food quantity affect problematic behaviors in two distinct pediatric cases.
• To extend previous findings on the relationship between feeding and aberrant behaviors.
• To demonstrate the utility of functional analyses in understanding individual behavior patterns.

Main Methods:

• Presentation of two case studies involving children with severe developmental delays.
• Utilized brief functional analyses to assess the impact of meal schedules and food quantity on behavior.
• Investigated the influence of social conditions and food deprivation/satiation.

Main Results:

• Self-injury in one child was maintained by attention only when food-satiated, decreasing with food deprivation.
• Crying and self-injury in another child were correlated with food quantity, not social stimuli.
• These findings highlight the differential impact of meal variables on behavior.

Conclusions:

• Meal schedule and food quantity can act as establishing operations, influencing problematic behaviors.
• Functional analyses provide valuable insights into the specific environmental factors maintaining behavior.
• Interventions targeting meal routines may be effective for managing certain problematic behaviors.