Toward the Development of a Functional Analysis Risk Assessment Decision Tool
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DISCUSSION AND REVIEW PAPER
Toward the Development of a Functional Analysis Risk Assessment Decision Tool Neil Deochand 1 & Rebecca R. Elridge 2 & Stephanie M. Peterson 2
# Association for Behavior Analysis International 2020
Abstract Risk-benefit analyses are essential in the decision-making process when selecting the most effective and least restrictive assessment and treatment options for our clients. Clinical expertise, informed by the client’s preferences and the research literature, is needed in order to weigh the potential detrimental effects of a procedure against its expected benefits. Unfortunately, safety recommendations pertaining to functional analyses (FAs) are scattered or not consistently reported in the literature, which could lead some practitioners to misjudge the risks of FA. We surveyed behavior analysts to determine their perceived need for a risk assessment tool to evaluate risks prior to conducting an FA. In a sample of 664 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA-Ds), 96.2% reported that a tool that evaluated the risks of proceeding with an FA would be useful for the professional practice of applied behavior analysis. We then developed an interactive tool to assess risk, which provides suggestions to mitigate the risks of an FA and validity recommendations. Subsequently, an expert panel of 10 BCBA-Ds reviewed the tool. Experts suggested that it was best suited as an instructional resource for those learning about the FA process and as a supporting resource for early practitioners’ clinical decision making. Keywords Clinical decision making . Ethical practice . Functional analysis . Risk assessment . Safety precautions Demand continues to grow for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and their expertise (Behavior Analyst Certification Board [BACB], 2018; Deochand & Fuqua, 2016). This demand has created a “supply” issue, in that there is a shortage of BCBAs. The BACB reports that a vast majority of individuals certified as behavior analysts have been certified for 5 years or less (BACB, n.d.). This heightened demand, coupled with the junior status of many practicing behavior analysts, creates a need for tools that will continue to support the professional practice of behavior analysis. Determining the needs of behavior analysts requires Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00433-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Neil Deochand [email protected] 1
Behavior Analysis Program, School of Human Services, University of Cincinnati, 450H Teachers-Dyer Complex, 2610 McMicken Cir., Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
intermittently conducting job analyses and expert panel reviews (Shook, Johnston, & Mellichamp, 2004), in addition to examining ongoing challenges encountered by those in the field. Two surveys published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Anal
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