A Preliminary Investigation of Using Contingency Space Analyses During Repeated Psychotropic Medication Regimen Changes for Challenging Behavior.

Psychotropic medication is commonly used to treat challenging behavior of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders; however, the influence psychotropics have on the interaction of challenging behavior with environmental events that may occasion it is not well understood. This study analyzed descriptive assessment data collected over several months using contingency space analysis. Weekly 1-hour observations for three participants were conducted and coded for challenging behavior and consequences and then grouped and analyzed according to medication regimen prescribed. Across psychotropic medication regimens, fluctuations in operant contingency values were observed for all participants; however, base rate of behavior was an important factor in identifying changes. These results suggest that analyzing data collected from direct observations may provide insight into how environmental variables may differentially interact with challenging behavior during psychotropic medication use depending on the base rate of behavior.