Positive behavior support and applied behavior analysis: a familial alliance.
ABA and PBS can stay related yet distinct as long as you openly label who brings what to the behavior plan.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Glen and colleagues wrote a think-piece, not an experiment.
They mapped where Positive Behavior Support (PBS) and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) overlap and where they drift apart.
The goal was to show the two fields can stay in the same family without merging into one.
What they found
The authors say PBS grew out of ABA but later added new goals like quality of life and systems change.
They argue the frames can live side-by-side if each side names its own role up front.
How this fits with other research
Six years earlier, Carr et al. (2002) looked at the same map and concluded "PBS is mostly ABA."
Dunlap et al. (2008) softens that claim, calling the link a "familial alliance" instead of an identity.
The shift matters: the earlier paper warns that splitting PBS from ABA fractures the science; the later paper accepts some separation as healthy.
Recent work keeps the peace. Beqiraj et al. (2022) reviewed thirty PBS studies and found solid behavior-reduction effects, showing the field can stand on data even while borrowing from ABA.
Why it matters
If you supervise teams that use both ABA and PBS language, stop the turf wars.
Spell out which parts of the plan are pure ABA (functional assessment, reinforcement) and which are PBS add-ons (wrap-around supports, life-style goals).
Your staff leave the meeting knowing both frames share DNA, not rivalry.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Positive behavior support (PBS) emerged in the mid-1980s as an approach for understanding and addressing problem behaviors. PBS was derived primarily from applied behavior analysis (ABA). Over time, however, PBS research and practice has incorporated evaluative methods, assessment and intervention procedures, and conceptual perspectives associated with a number of additional disciplines. Recently, there has been some confusion regarding the definition of PBS and, in particular, its relationship to ABA. In this article, it was noted that the practice of PBS and ABA, in some instances, can be indistinguishable but that important differences in definitions and emphases mandate an explicit distinction. The purpose of this article is to address some of the key points of confusion, identify areas of overlap and distinction, and facilitate a constructive and collegial dialog between proponents of the PBS and ABA perspectives.
Behavior modification, 2008 · doi:10.1177/0145445508317132