An extensive literature on the causes of challenging behaviors has been developed, primarily in the applied behavior analysis literature. One hundred and seventy-three empirical studies were reviewed where functional assessment serves as the primary method of identifying these causes. Most of the studies were able to identify a clear function or…

This paper examines the relationships among life satisfaction, positive youth development, and problem behaviour. A total of 7,975 Secondary One students (4,169 boys and 3,387 girls; with most aged 12) of Chinese ethnicity recruited from 48 schools responded to validated measures of life satisfaction, positive youth development and problem…

The relation of mood and stress to binge eating and vomiting in the natural environments of patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) was examined using real-time data collection. Women (n = 131; mean age = 25.3 years) with BN carried a palmtop computer for 2 weeks and completed ratings of positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), anger/hostility (AH),…

Results of prior studies (e.g. [J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 32 (1999) 285]) showing that participants chose alternative behavior (compliance) over escape-reinforced destructive behavior when this latter response produced escape and the former response produced positive reinforcement may have been due to (a) the value of the positive reinforcer…