A BEHAVIORAL PRESCRIPTION FOR PROMOTING APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS WITHIN PEDIATRICS

In recent decades, pediatric medicine has undergone a shift in focus f rom infectious diseases to the effects of behavior on the health and d evelopment of children. At the same time, behavior analysts have incre asingly evaluated the direct application of their technology to the de velopment and maintenance of child health behavior. Unfortunately, app lied behavior analysts have developed their technology parallel to, ra ther than collaboratively with, pediatricians and, as a result, are no t recognized as experts in the treatment of child health behavior. In addition, behavioral technology is not widely recognized as the treatm ent of choice by pediatricians. This paper provides a behavioral presc ription for behavior analysts who wish to enter pediatrics as expert s cientists and technicians. Specific recommendations are provided for s timulating collaborative rather than parallel development between appl ied behavior analysis and pediatrics in the promotion and maintenance of child health behavior. Strategies for maintaining this collaborativ e relationship and for strengthening the social relevance of behavior analysis are discussed.