Faculty Articles
Separate and Combined Effects of Methylphenidate and a Behavioral Intervention on Disruptive Behavior in Children with Mental Retardation
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
ISSN
0021-8855
Publication Date
Fall 1996
Abstract
We investigated the separate and combined effects of a behavioral intervention and methylphenidate (Ritalin®) on disruptive behavior and task engagement in 3 children with severe to profound mental retardation. The behavioral intervention involved differential reinforcement of appropriate behavior and guided compliance. All 3 children demonstrated decreased disruptive behavior and improved task engagement in response to the behavioral intervention. Two of the 3 children demonstrated similar improvement in response to methylphenidate. Although both interventions were highly effective for these 2 participants, the relative efficacy of the interventions varied between the 2 children. There was no evidence of an additive or synergistic effect of the two interventions, but the high efficacy of each intervention alone limited our ability to detect such effects.
DOI
10.1901/jaba.1996.29-305
Volume
29
Issue
3
First Page
305
Last Page
319
NSUWorks Citation
Blum, N. J.,
Mauk, J.,
McComas, J. J.,
Mace, F. C.
(1996). Separate and Combined Effects of Methylphenidate and a Behavioral Intervention on Disruptive Behavior in Children with Mental Retardation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29(3), 305-319.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/382
