What is the evidence for environmental causes of challenging behaviors in persons with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders?
Challenging behavior in IDD and autism is almost always fed by attention, escape, tangible access, or sensory payoff—so assess first, treat second.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matson et al. (2011) pulled every paper that asked why people with intellectual disability or autism act out. They hunted for proof that things like attention, escape, toys, or sensory input cause the behavior.
The team kept only studies that met strict rules. They then grouped the evidence into four buckets: attention, escape, tangible, and automatic (sensory) reinforcement.
What they found
Again and again, functional assessment pointed to one of four environmental pay-offs. The behavior was not random; it was learned because it worked.
Proof for brain-based or chemical causes stayed weak. The clearest data stayed in the ABA column: behavior serves a function you can see and test.
How this fits with other research
Bottema-Beutel et al. (2024) extends this view. They looked at newer studies in teens and young adults with autism. Even though we know functions exist, most new papers still skip proper functional assessment.
Bottema‐Beutel et al. (2025) widens the lens. In 102 early-intervention trials, scientists rarely said why a behavior was targeted or how they measured it. They lumped harmless stimming with harmful acts, something Matson et al. (2011) warned against.
Walker (1993) is the grandfather here. That early review already showed escape keeps non-compliance alive in ID. Matson et al. (2011) later gave the same finding system-wide data.
Why it matters
Before you write a behavior plan, run a real functional assessment. The four functions are your roadmap. If a study or a supervisor skips this step, point to Matson et al. (2011) and its children: the evidence base is solid, and newer reviews show the field still drifts without it. Start there and you save time and side effects.
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Take your current case with unclear behavior function, run a 30-minute ABC descriptive sample, and sort each episode into the four buckets before planning.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
An extensive literature on the causes of challenging behaviors has been developed, primarily in the applied behavior analysis literature. One hundred and seventy-three empirical studies were reviewed where functional assessment serves as the primary method of identifying these causes. Most of the studies were able to identify a clear function or functions. Most commonly established causes were attention, the efforts to acquire tangibles, negative reinforcement in the form of escape from tasks or environments, and sensory stimulation, also described as an alone condition. Examples are provided regarding how these conditions are investigated across studies. Biological and cognitive causes have also been demonstrated. However, to date the empirical literature is limited with the bulk of studies being correlational. Considerably more research is needed, but some causes and methods to identify them are beginning to emerge.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.11.012