TRANSFER OF BEHAVIORAL FUNCTION AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN TREATMENTRELAPSE

When relapse occurs following successful treatment to reduce problem b ehavior, it is often attributed to inconsistent implementation of main tenance programs. Although less likely, another potential cause for re lapse is a change in the behavior's maintaining contingency over time. To examine this possibility, additional assessment was conducted with 4 individuals who were rereferred to a day-treatment program due to r ecurrence of their self-injurious behavior (SIB) 2 months to 2 years f ollowing successful treatment. In each case, the original treatment ha d been developed and implemented based on the outcome of functional an alysis assessments. For 1 subject, results of a second functional anal ysis were consistent with those from the original assessment, indicati ng that the function of her SIB had remained unchanged. For the other 3 subjects, results of the second assessment suggested that their SIB had acquired new or additional functions. These findings indicate that factors other than program inconsistency can lead to relapse, and tha t clinical reevaluation for such cases should include a current functi onal analysis to determine if new treatment components are needed.