Applied Behavior Analysis And The Treatment of Childhood Psychopathology And Developmental Disabilities

This chapter provides a description and examples of the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in the treatment of childhood psychopathology and developmental disabilities. This task is a daunting one given that many of the single topics that are discussed in the following pages can, and have, served as topics for entire chapters and texts. This limitation means we are not able to delve into each topic in a comprehensive manner. However, we do provide an overview of the important topics related to ABA and its use in the treatment of childhood psychopathology and developmental disabilities. In addition, we provide a discussion of literature-based examples for these ABA-based treatments, brief examples of generalization of treatment effects, and discussion of effectiveness. It is important to note that ABA is not a single treatment. It is more accurate to say that ABA represents an approach to treatment as opposed to a specific type of treatment. This approach includes a number of treatment strategies that can be used to address the behavioral symptoms associated with childhood psychopathology and the behavioral challenges