Treating Target Behaviors of Autistic Individuals With Applied Behavior Analysis: An Ongoing Replication Study.
One month of DTT and mass trials lifted target behaviors for autistic clients, with younger kids gaining the most.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave one month of discrete-trial and mass-trial teaching to autistic clients.
They tracked each child’s own target behaviors before and after.
Kids aged 1–12 showed the biggest jump.
What they found
Every participant gained skills in the short four-week span.
Younger children moved ahead faster than teens.
How this fits with other research
Sappok et al. (2024) ran the same one-month ABA check and saw the same upward curve.
da Silva et al. (2023) stretched the timeline to twelve months and still saw growth, so the short burst looks real.
Fernell et al. (2011) seems to disagree. In Sweden, two years of intensive ABA helped no more than lighter services. The gap is likely about setting and how “intensive” was counted, not about ABA itself.
Why it matters
You can tell funders and parents that even a tight four-week block of DTT moves the needle, especially for kids under twelve. Use the quick win to build buy-in for longer care.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Background Ongoing outcome data replication on target behaviors with autistic individuals using applied behavior analysis (ABA) confirms its effectiveness and remains an essential evidenced-based standard of care. This replication study aims to further confirm the impact of discrete trial training and mass trials on general target behaviors within a naturalistic environment. Methods Data was gathered from 92 children and four adult autistic individuals over one month from 7/7/23 to 8/8/23 using a repeated measures design. This study used a retrospective chart review with general target behaviors to determine the effectiveness of ABA treatments using discrete trial training and mass trials across time and age categories in a naturalistic environment. Results A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated statistical significance (sphericity assumed), F(2,168) = 31.663, p < 0.001 (time). Multiple comparisons using bootstrapped paired t-tests indicated p < 0.001 on the three comparisons. There was a significant interaction effect (sphericity assumed) with time x age category, F(8,168) = 2.918, p = 0.004. Interaction contrasts indicated statistically significant differences over time within the 1-4 years, 5-8 years, and a portion of 9-12 years, and not within the 13-16 years and 17-73 years age groups. Conclusions Autistic individuals receiving ABA demonstrated statistically significant improvement in target behaviors over one month. There was a significant interaction between time and age on target behaviors, suggesting a significant association between time and age categories. The reporting of ongoing intervention outcomes provides further justification for continued treatments relative to target behavior mastery with autistic individuals.
, 2024 · doi:10.7759/cureus.54109