Noncompliance is among the most commonly cited reasons for behavioral referrals across educational, clinical, and home settings. When children do not follow adult-delivered instructions, the consequences can cascade: missed learning opportunities, strained relationships with caregivers and teachers, restricted access to less supervised environments, and escalation into more severe behavioral concerns.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Tennessee Association for Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →Noncompliance, defined as failure or refusal to complete a requested directive, is the top reason for office discipline referrals (Losinski et al., 2017), estimated to occur in up to half of children under the age of 17 years (Kalb & Loeber, 2003). If not addressed early, noncompliance can interfere with children's acquisition of important skills, impact their ability to form relationships with others, lead to restrictions in opportunities and environments, and result in worsening of behavioral or mental health conditions (Todt et al., in prep). Despite the utility of compliance, accounts from advocates point to the development of harmful, noncontextualized compliance repertoires as a result of participation in noncompliance interventions (Mathur et al., 2024). Procedures that solely focus on compliance and involve the dismissal of self-advocacy or dissent based on topography (e.g., refusal, elopement) have the potential to lead to issues with assent across the lifespan, increasing intervention recipients' risk for bullying and abuse (Mathur et al. 2024; Sandoval-Norton & Shedky, 2019; Veneziano & Shea, 2022). To address the gaps we identified through a systematic literature review, we conducted a single case evaluation of a compliance intervention for young children that includes collaboration with important shareholders (i.e., parents, teachers, and child) and intermittent reinforcement for self-advocacy (i.e., negotiation and refusal). We will present the procedures and results of this study, as well as discuss practical considerations and challenges surrounding the balance of compliance and self-advocacy that this study highlighted. Among these are the impact of concurrently available contingencies, the use of various extinction procedures (e.g., kind extinction vs complete escape extinction), and support for the development of self-determination.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | Ethics |
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
205 research articles with practitioner takeaways
183 research articles with practitioner takeaways
183 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.