Food selectivity and problem behavior in children with developmental disabilities - Analysis and intervention

Excessive food selectivity typifies some children with developmental disabi lities. We conducted functional analyses to determine the controlling varia bles for problem behavior that accompanied food selectivity and analyzed th e role of establishing operations in ameliorating food selectivity. Specifi cally, we studied the differential effects on intervention efficacy of an i ndividual's having or not having access to preferred food items prior to an intervention that involved the presence versus absence of a positive reinf orcement contingency applied to food consumption. Participants displayed si gnificantly more problem behavior during the nonpreferred-foods condition. Participants consumed nonpreferred target food items only when prior access to preferred foods was limited and a positive reinforcement contingency wa s implemented. Functional analysis suggested that problem behavior was main tained by negative reinforcement. Intervention data suggested that establis hing operations increased the efficacy of the contingency-based interventio n. The implications of applying this intervention in the community were dis cussed as were the relative merits of stimulus fading versus escape extinct ion intervention strategies.