Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Association for Behavior Analysis International® (ABAI) is a nonprofit membership organization with the mission to contribute to the well-being of society by developing, enhancing, and supporting the growth and vitality of the science of behavior analysis through research, education, and practice.

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35th Annual Convention; Phoenix, AZ; 2009

Event Details


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Symposium #539
Evaluating interventions available for children with autism: The importance of evidence Based Treatments
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
10:30 AM–11:50 AM
North 125
Area: AUT; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis
Chair: Marjorie H. Charlop-Christy (Claremont McKenna College)
Discussant: Debra Berry Malmberg (California State University, Northridge)
Abstract: Of the various intervention options for children with autism, most lack scientific evidence. Studies report that 74-92% of children with autism are enrolled in programs that are not empirically validated (Hanson et al., 2007; Harrington et al., 2006). Due to the potential costs of using such interventions, it is important to understand why parents choose such treatments, the sources they report as influential in their decisions, and ways to train parents to choose evidenced based interventions. The research presented in this symposium demonstrates that parents of children with autism are engaging in many types of treatments that are not evidenced based. The first study compared parents of children with autism to parents of children with cerebral palsy and Down Syndrome in their participation in non-evidence based interventions. The second study investigated what interventions parents of children with autism are adopting and why. Lastly, the third study describes a parent education program that was devised to teach parents to effectively use evidence based strategies to evaluate their children’s interventions. All three studies demonstrate the growing need for more effective research to evaluate the multitude of interventions that are available for children with autism.
 
Evidence based treatment: A comparison of parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy and down syndrome.
MELAURA ANDREE ERICKSON (Claremont Graduate University), Kari Berquist (Claremont Graduate University), Marjorie H. Charlop-Christy (Claremont McKenna College)
Abstract: The use of Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) is steadily increasing in the United States. Past studies report that 74-92% of children with autism are enrolled in interventions that are not empirically validated and therefore considered CAM. Although other pediatric populations are engaging in CAM use, it is done so at a much lower rate. The current study investigated the rates of CAM use in children with autism and compared these rates to children with Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy, as well as neuro-typical children. Surveys were administered to 25 parents from each group. Preliminary data demonstrates that parents of children with autism are engaging in more CAM than any of the other groups tested. The sources parents of children with autism report as most influential in their decision to use CAM are recommendations from pediatricians and friends. The parents from the other groups report choosing interventions that would target specific symptoms.
 
Are parents of children with autism choosing evidence based treatments?
Kari Berquist (Claremont Graduate University), Marjorie H. Charlop-Christy (Claremont McKenna College), ALISSA GREENBERG (Claremont Graduate University)
Abstract: This study examined parents’ adoption of interventions for their children with autism, as well as the factors that influenced what interventions parents used. Surveys were administered to 12 participants who were affiliated with an after school behavior management program. Findings showed a high prevalence of non-empirically supported interventions being used by participants. In addition, results also showed that children were simultaneously participating in multiple interventions, both empirically and non-empirically validated. Given the findings, this study confirmed the hypothesis that parents of children with autism utilize many different types of interventions without scientific support. In addition, this study also investigated reasons why parents choose which interventions to adopt for their children. Out of twenty factors, three of the five factors that were rated most important when choosing an intervention were based on professional recommendations (i.e., autism professional, physician, regional center). These results substantiate the need for decreasing non-empirically supported interventions used by participants.
 
A parent education program: Teaching parents how to evaluate their child's interventions using evidence based practices.
KARI BERQUIST (Claremont Graduate University), Marjorie H. Charlop-Christy (Claremont McKenna College), Alissa Greenberg (Claremont Graduate University)
Abstract: Given the high prevalence of non-empirically supported interventions used by participants in study 1, this study assessed the effectiveness of a parent education program to teach parents of children with autism to distinguish between non-empirically validated interventions and empirically validated interventions and scientifically evaluate their child’s interventions. This study specifically examined parents’ acquisition, generalization and maintenance of behaviors related to the evaluation of their child’s interventions. Additionally, this study looked at parents’ knowledge and attitudes related to evaluation of their children’s intervention in comparison to controls. A multiple baseline design across parent participants was used to assess parents’ ability to evaluate interventions. In addition, a pre- and post-test design was used to assess for variables related to psychosocial and knowledge of evaluative information, comparing parent participants to a control group. After completion of the parent education parents’ evaluative abilities increased in comparison to controls, as well as relative to individual baseline measures.
 

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