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Harnessing Communication Preferences to Enhance Its Persistence and Mitigate Relapse of Challenging Behavior

Award Number: R01HD069377
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/10/2012
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2030

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Harnessing Communication Preferences to Enhance Its Persistence and Mitigate Relapse of Challenging Behavior - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often exhibit behavior that poses a risk to themselves (e.g., self-injurious behavior), others (e.g., aggression), or their environment (e.g., property destruction). These challenges can limit their ability to participate in meaningful social, educational, and vocational activities. The aims of the current project are to demonstrate an approach to a behavioral intervention (functional communication training [FCT]) to (1) promote long-term maintenance and resilience in the face of disruption and (2) evaluate its relation to response and participant variables. FCT is the most widely researched behavioral treatment to address challenging behavior exhibited by individuals with developmental disabilities. This treatment involves teaching appropriate communication to replace challenging behavior as a way of recruiting reinforcers. For example, teaching an individual to use a speech generating device to request parent attention instead of engaging in inappropriate attention-seeking behavior (e.g., aggression). Its efficacy has been demonstrated in hundreds of published studies, but it remains important clinically to develop treatment components that influence treatment maintenance when FCT encounters disruptions (e.g., communication “no longer works” or new contexts are encountered). Treatment maintenance includes both (1) enhancing persistence of appropriate communication and (2) reducing relapse of challenging behavior. Recent research suggests that designing FCT based on an individual’s preferred communication modality (a) reduces challenging behavior, (b) teaches an appropriate communicative response, (c) increases the persistence of the functional communicative response (FCR), and (d) reduces relapse of challenging behavior. However, the existing literature surrounding preference of communication modality is composed of a small number of investigations employing single-case experimental designs. While promising, these examples lack demonstration that communication-modality preference improves treatment maintenance in the context of a randomized controlled trial, considered the gold-standard for intervention research. The proposed study will intentionally compare FCT that incorporates an individuals’ preferred communication modality (PrefFCT) to FCT that incorporates an equally successful communication modality, but one that is less preferred (NonPrefFCT). Treatment maintenance will be compared across both modalities (PrefFCT and NonPrefFCT) in a randomized controlled trial by two relevant outcomes: (a) the persistence of the FCR and (b) relapse of challenging behavior, when disrupting treatment with both reductions in reinforcer rate and context/implementer changes. Quantifying effectiveness of preference modality with an RCT will contribute to enhancing dissemination and adoption of this approach by practitioners. The outcomes of the proposed research will contribute to enhanced quality of life for individuals with IDD by optimizing FCT to improve communication and reduce challenging behavior.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $527,575 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 E CAMPUS RD RM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	12	8/14/2025	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$527,575
														Subtotal = $527,575

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = -$73,894 )
2024	2022	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 E CAMPUS RD RM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	11	9/19/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$73,894
														Subtotal = -$73,894

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $456,602 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 EAST CAMPUS RD TUCKER HALL ROOM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	11	7/21/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$456,602
														Subtotal = $456,602

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $456,602 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 EAST CAMPUS RD TUCKER HALL ROOM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	10	8/16/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$456,602
														Subtotal = $456,602

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $465,920 )
2020	2020	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 EAST CAMPUS RD TUCKER HALL ROOM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	9	6/18/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$465,920
														Subtotal = $465,920

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $465,920 )
2019	2019	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 EAST CAMPUS RD TUCKER HALL ROOM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	8	6/26/2019	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$465,920
														Subtotal = $465,920

Issue Date FY: 2018 ( Subtotal = $460,635 )
2018	2018	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 EAST CAMPUS RD TUCKER HALL ROOM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	7	9/14/2018	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$491,710
2018	2016	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	310 EAST CAMPUS RD TUCKER HALL ROOM 409	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	6	6/4/2018	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$31,075
														Subtotal = $460,635

Issue Date FY: 2016 ( Subtotal = $271,901 )
2016	2016	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC	BUSINESS SERVICES BUILDING	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	002	6	4/1/2016	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$242,041
2016	2015	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	4	2/16/2016	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$232,504
2016	2015	UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC	BUSINESS SERVICES BUILDING	ATHENS	GA	30602	CLARKE	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	5	2/16/2016	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$262,364
														Subtotal = $271,901

Issue Date FY: 2015 ( Subtotal = $232,504 )
2015	2015	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	4	3/16/2015	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$232,504
														Subtotal = $232,504

Issue Date FY: 2014 ( Subtotal = $233,626 )
2014	2014	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	2/27/2014	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$233,626
														Subtotal = $233,626

Issue Date FY: 2013 ( Subtotal = $229,531 )
2013	2013	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	2/28/2013	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$266,317
2013	2013	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	003	2	5/14/2013	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$11,851
2013	2013	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	002	2	4/30/2013	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$10,475
2013	2013	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	2	4/11/2013	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$38,162
														Subtotal = $229,531

Issue Date FY: 2012 ( Subtotal = $252,108 )
2012	2012	SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-CARBONDALE	RESEARCH & PROJECTS FISCAL M	CARBONDALE	IL	62901	JACKSON	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	3/9/2012	NEW	$252,108
														Subtotal = $252,108

Grand Total All Awards = $3,979,030

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Harnessing Communication Preferences to Enhance Its Persistence and Mitigate Relapse of Challenging Behavior

Award Number: R01HD069377

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/10/2012

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2030

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