An Empirical Comparison of Common Problem Behavior Among Preschoolers With and Without Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Nearly four decades of research indicates that young children with developmental delays and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) benefit from receiving behavior analysis services during the earliest, critical years of development. Often these services are provided comprehensively, focus heavily on skill‐building in various key domains, and, in some cases, also focus on ameliorating behavior issues that may impede eventual attendance in a traditional kindergarten. Prior research suggests that select circumstances warrant intervening on challenging behavior in the early years, as it offers the benefit of avoiding more severe presentations and social adjustment issues in the later years. However, there is little empirical research guiding practitioners as to what benchmarks and behavioral goals are age‐appropriate, what perceived issues are most relevant to traditional preschool and kindergarten settings, and to what extent these arise in neurotypically developing peers. This observational study was conducted to build a preliminary database of common early childhood behavior problems, compare rates between preschoolers on the autism spectrum and same‐age neurotypical peers, and identify what rates of challenging behavior may be expected in a neurotypical preschool setting. Results indicated that challenging behavior occurred regularly for most neurotypical preschoolers but at relatively lower rates compared to preschoolers with ASD; in addition, that age and combined rates of challenging behavior were negatively correlated for both groups of participants.