Health TrialsbyHealthPanel

Extensions of Resurgence as Choice

ConditionsProblem BehaviorAggressionSelf-Injury
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age3-17
SponsorRutgers, The State University of New Jersey

About this trial

Although behavioral treatments for decreasing destructive behavior, such as differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA), are effective in the clinic, problem behavior often returns when a caregiver does not give the child their way in the natural environment (e.g., caregiver is busy with an infant sibling). This form of treatment relapse is known as resurgence. The goal of the current study is to evaluate whether alternating sessions in which the child can have their way (i.e., "on" sessions) with sessions in which the child can not have their way (i.e., "off" sessions) helps to mitigate resurgence.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

boys and girls from ages 3 to 17;

problem behavior that occurs at least 10 times a day, despite previous treatment;

problem behavior maintained by social positive reinforcement;

stable protective supports for self-injurious behavior (e.g., helmet) with no anticipated changes during enrollment;

Disqualifiers

patients who do not meet the inclusion criteria;

patients currently receiving 15 or more hours per week of treatment for their problem behavior;

DSM-5 diagnosis of Rett syndrome or other degenerative conditions (e.g., inborn error of metabolism);

a comorbid health condition or major mental disorder that would interfere with study participation;

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

  • CDT

    Behavioral

    In this condition, the clinician will alternate sessions with reinforcement for the alternative response and sessions without reinforcement for the alternative response during extinction treatment of problem behavior. According to RaC2, alternating periods of reinforcer availability and unavailability for the alternative response will teach the participant that the alternative response alone produces reinforcement but not always. The investigators predict that resurgence of problem behavior will lower, shorter lasting, and with fewer participants experiencing resurgence than those in the control group.

  • Control

    Behavioral

    This condition emulates a traditional approach to treatment in which the clinician does not alternate sessions with reinforcement for the alternative response and sessions without reinforcement for the alternative response during extinction treatment of problem behavior. The investigators predict that resurgence of problem behavior will higher, longer lasting, and with more participants experiencing resurgence than those in the CDT group.

Treatment groups

30 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: Contingency-Discrimintation Training (CDT)Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: ControlActive comparator 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Rate of problem behavior during resurgence test

The investigators will compare the rates of problem behavior during the first six sessions of the resurgence test across the two experimental groups.

Time frame
5 years

Secondary outcomes

1

Number of sessions to criterion

The investigators will compare the number of sessions necessary during the resurgence test to reach two consecutive sessions with rates of problem behavior at or below an 85% reduction from that same participant's baseline rate of problem behavior across the two experimental groups.

Time frame
5 years
2

Number of participants with resurgence

The investigators will compare the number of participants whose problem behavior resurges (operationally defined in Statistical Design and Power) across the two experimental groups.

Time frame
5 years

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Lead sponsor

Source ClinicalTrials.gov
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