AN ALTERNATING TREATMENTS COMPARISON OF 2 INTENSIVE INTERVENTIONS FORFOOD REFUSAL

We compared two treatment packages involving negative reinforcement co ntingencies for 3 children with chronic food refusal. One involved phy sically guiding the child to accept food contingent on noncompliance, whereas the other involved nonremoval of the spoon until the child acc epted the presented food. Subsequent to baseline, an alternating treat ments comparison was implemented in a multiple baseline design across subjects. After each child had been exposed to at least nine sessions of each treatment condition and percentage of bites accepted had incre ased to at least 80%, the child's caregivers selected the preferred tr eatment package. The results indicated that both treatments were effec tive in establishing food acceptance. However, physical guidance was a ssociated with fewer corollary behaviors, shorter meal durations, and parental preference.