Functional Analysis and Treatment of Symptoms of Autism

自闭症症状的功能分析和治疗

• 批准号: 7039167
• 负责人: WAYNE WILLIAM FISHER
• 金额: $ 26.15万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-01 至 2009-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7039167
• 关键词: adolescence (12-20); aggression; attention; autism; child behavior; child behavior disorders; child mental disorders; clinical research; compulsive behavior; environment; environmental stressor; epidemiology; human ecology; human subject; human therapy evaluation; middle childhood (6-11); patient oriented research; reinforcer; self destructive behavior; sign /symptom; socioenvironment; therapy

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children with autism display a variety of unusual and repetitive activities, interests, and behaviors (RAIBS) that are viewed as "essential" features of the disorder, such as preoccupations, rituals, compulsions, stereotypes, and strong reactions to minor environmental changes. Many children with autism also display severe destructive behaviors that are associated features of autism, such as aggression, pica, property destruction, and self-injurious behavior. Both the essential and associated features of autism markedly interfere with the child's development and cause intolerable hardship to family life. Functional analysis methods have been used to better understand and treat aberrant behavior because these methods permit precise identification of (a) the environmental contexts (i.e., antecedent conditions) in which aberrant behavior is likely and unlikely to occur, (b) the consequences that reinforce or maintain the behavior, and (c) effective treatments. We have begun to apply the functional analysis method to these essential and associated symptoms of autism. Our preliminary results suggest three operant patterns for these symptoms. In one pattern, the essential and associated symptoms have common functions (i.e., both maintained by sensory reinforcement automatically produced by the responses). In the second pattern they have independent functions (e.g., one maintained by sensory reinforcement, the other by escape from demands). In the third pattern they have interrelated functions, in which access to an essential symptom of autism (e.g., stereotypy) functions as reinforcement for the associated symptom (e.g., aggression). Each pattern leads to a distinct behavioral intervention that is differentially effective in reducing both the essential and associated symptoms of autism. The current project is designed to further examine the common, separate, and interrelated functions of the essential and associated symptoms of autism. We hypothesize that categorizing and analyzing these essential and associated symptoms in terms of both their structural and functional properties will enhance our understanding of autism and lead to more effective treatment.

描述（由申请人提供）：自闭症的儿童表现出各种不寻常和重复的活动，兴趣和行为（RAIB），这些活动被视为疾病的“基本”特征，例如专心，仪式，强迫，刻板印象以及对较小环境变化的强烈反应。许多自闭症儿童还表现出严重的破坏性行为，这些行为是自闭症的相关特征，例如侵略，PICA，财产破坏和自我伤害行为。自闭症的基本特征和相关特征都显着干扰了孩子的成长，并给家庭生活带来了无法忍受的困难。功能分析方法已被用来更好地理解和治疗异常行为，因为这些方法允许（a）可能发生异常行为并且不太可能发生的环境环境（即先前条件）进行精确识别，（b）加强或维持行为的后果以及（c）有效治疗。我们已经开始将功能分析方法应用于自闭症的这些基本和相关症状。我们的初步结果表明了这些症状的三种操作模式。在一种模式中，基本症状和相关症状具有共同的功能（即，均由反应自动产生的感觉加强维护）。在第二种模式中，它们具有独立的功能（例如，一种是通过感觉加强维护的，另一种是通过逃避需求的）。在第三种模式中，它们具有相互关联的功能，其中访问自闭症的基本症状（例如，刻板印象）起着相关症状的加强（例如侵略性）。每种模式都会导致独特的行为干预，在减少自闭症的必要症状和相关症状方面有差异性。当前的项目旨在进一步检查自闭症本质和相关症状的常见，分开和相互关联的功能。我们假设根据其结构和功能特性对这些基本症状和相关症状进行分类和分析将增强我们对自闭症的理解，并导致更有效的治疗。