title: Functional assessment and treatment of aggressive and destructive behaviors in a child victim of physical abuse.
abstract: This case study describes the functional assessment and treatment of aggressive and destructive behaviors in a 14-year-old male child with a history of physical abuse. Evaluation was performed in a classroom within a residential school setting. Functional assessment in forms of indirect and descriptive methods was used to generate hypotheses regarding sources of behavioral control. A treatment plan that combined multi-level differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and positive reinforcement for task completion was implemented based on the outcome of functional assessment. Treatment was associated with a gradual and steady reduction in challenging behaviors with near-zero rates achieved at follow-up. This case provides an example of clinical intervention for behavior disorders commonly observed in children who have been abused physically and a hypothesis-driven model of treatment formulation.
authors.affiliation: Psychological & Educational Resource Associates, Concord, MA 01742, USA.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Luiselli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004519:Education, Special; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010553:Personality Development; D012114:Residential Treatment; D014040:Token Economy