Evaluating brief graduated exposure protocol to treat disruptive behavior in the dental context

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2018

First Committee Member

Sassi, Jessica

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Rachel

Third Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen

Abstract

"Children with autism engage in problem behavior during dental exams which could result in a lack of adequate dental care and even injury to the child (Allen, Stark, Rigney, Nash, & Stokes, 1998). Prior research has indicated that graduated exposure can be an effective treatment in reducing escape-maintained problem behavior related to dental demands, however, prior studies have conducted sessions in a genuine dental clinic or a mock dental room with stimuli such as a dental chair (Luscre & Center, 1996, Conyers et al., 2004). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief graduated exposure procedure conducted in a child’s regular classroom environment. All graduated exposure sessions were conducted in the participant’s typical classroom setting, and probe sessions were conducted in a mock dental room to test for generalization. Both participants were children with autism who attended a residential school. A multiple baseline across subjects was used to demonstrate experimental control. Results suggested that brief graduated exposure sessions conducted in a typical classroom environment were effective in decreasing disruptive behavior during dental demands and that treatment effects generalized to a dental setting."

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