Examination of clinical variables affecting resurgence: A reanalysis of 46 applications
Big drops in reinforcement during FCT thinning cause big resurgence, so step down gradually.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Laureano et al. (2024) looked back at 46 kids in an inpatient unit. All had FCT plus schedule thinning.
The team asked: which facts about a child predict how much problem behavior will pop back up?
What they found
Only one thing mattered: how big the drop in reinforcement was during thinning. Bigger drops made bigger resurgence.
Age, diagnosis, baseline severity, and other clinical notes had no clear link to relapse size.
How this fits with other research
Falligant et al. (2022) saw the same link in 21 cases. Both sets of data show an exponential jump in relapse when you cut reinforcement hard.
Greer et al. (2024) ran a tiny prospective study and also found gradual cuts kept resurgence low. The new paper adds 46 more kids, backing up the lab work.
Shahan et al. (2020) first drew the exponential curve with college students. The inpatient charts now match the lab math, closing the clinic-to-lab gap.
Why it matters
When you thin FCT, shrink the schedule in baby steps. A leap from FR-2 to FR-10 invites a burst of old problem behavior. Plan smaller hops and you will see milder, shorter resurgence. Write the step size on the BIP so every tech follows the same gentle slope.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Split your next thinning step in half—go FR-4 to FR-6 instead of FR-4 to FR-8.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Despite the efficacy of behavioral interventions, resurgence of challenging behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury) following successful treatment can still occur. Applied work has focused on identifying treatment-related variables thought to affect the occurrence and magnitude of resurgence. The current study describes the relation between several variables (i.e., phase duration, response rates in baseline and treatment, obtained rates of reinforcement, downshift in reinforcement step size) and resurgence in a retrospective consecutive controlled case series of 46 treatment applications for challenging behavior conducted in an inpatient setting. Only the downshift in reinforcement (e.g., schedule-thinning) step size was correlated with the magnitude of resurgence. These results are consistent with recent findings suggesting that treatment duration and other factors have inconsistent effects on resurgence of challenging behavior.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2024 · doi:10.1002/jaba.1091