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Efficacy of functional analysis for informing behavioral treatment of inappropriate mealtime behavior: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Saini Valdeep,
Jessel Joshua,
Iannaccone Julia A.,
Agnew Charlene
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
behavioral interventions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.605
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1099-078X
pISSN - 1072-0847
DOI - 10.1002/bin.1664
Subject(s) - functional analysis , psychology , differential reinforcement , meta analysis , extinction (optical mineralogy) , reinforcement , applied behavior analysis , behavioral analysis , throwing , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , social psychology , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , mechanical engineering , autism , biology , engineering , gene
Children diagnosed with a feeding disorder often exhibit inappropriate mealtime behavior such as throwing or swiping food, which can exacerbate feeding difficulties during treatment. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 86 behavioral treatments for inappropriate mealtime behavior from 23 studies to assess the extent to which treatments based on a pretreatment functional analysis were more efficacious than those treatments not based on a functional analysis. Procedural escape extinction and attention extinction for inappropriate mealtime behavior, as well as differential reinforcement for food acceptance or consumption, represented the most common treatments independent of whether a functional analysis was conducted. No difference was detected between treatments that were and were not based on a functional analysis, and mean effect size across measures was identical (79%). The requirement of a pretreatment functional analysis for inappropriate mealtime behavior is equivocal given that standard care often includes efficacious treatment components that are not informed by a functional analysis.