Brief Experimental Analysis of Antecedent Variables Related to Noncompliance in Young Children in an Outpatient Clinic

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate a methodology for analyzing the interactive effects of two different antecedent variables on child noncompliance in an outpatient clinic. Phase 1 of this study consisted of antecedent manipulations to identify situations that occasioned problematic behaviors (i.e., presence or absence of the child's care provider during demand situations). Three patterns of results emerged from the analyses. For 5 out of 6 children, both parental presence and the provision of the demand, in different combinations, were identified as being active antecedent variables. For the remaining child, only demands were identified as being the active variable. During Phase 2, brief treatment probes were implemented in the most problematic situation during assessment and resulted in substantial decreases in inappropriate behavior for all 6 children. Brief reversals were used to further demonstrate treatment effectiveness for 3 of the 6 children.