Functional analysis and treatment of elopement for a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Kodak et al. (2004) worked with one child who had ADHD. The child kept running off during outdoor play.

The team ran a short functional analysis outside. They wanted to know if the child eloped to get adult attention.

Attention was the pay-off. When adults looked away, the child bolted. When adults gave steady attention, elopement stopped.

Adding a brief time-out for any escape attempt wiped out the behavior. The child stayed in the yard all session.

Frank-Crawford et al. (2024) later showed a different fix. They taught a preschooler to say “go see” and carried fun toys during transitions. Both studies wiped out elopement, but one used words and toys, the other used free attention plus time-out.

Lord et al. (1997) paired noncontingent reinforcement with extinction for escape-based SIB during tooth-brushing. Tiffany’s team used the same logic outdoors: give the reinforcer freely and block the old route.

Rajaraman et al. (2022) let kids choose to stay, take a break, or leave. Free reinforcers still flowed. Their choice model matches Tiffany’s free attention idea, but skips the time-out.

You can test elopement function outside in under an hour. If attention keeps it alive, flood the moment with praise, eye contact, and conversation. Add a quick 30-s time-out for any dash. The child learns staying near you pays better than running. Try it next park trip—no extra staff needed.