Treating Target Behaviors of Autistic Individuals With Applied Behavior Analysis: An Ongoing Replication Study

Background Ongoing outcome data replication on target behaviors with autistic individuals using applied behavior analysis (ABA) confirms its effectiveness and remains an essential evidenced-based standard of care. This replication study aims to further confirm the impact of discrete trial training and mass trials on general target behaviors within a naturalistic environment. Methods Data was gathered from 92 children and four adult autistic individuals over one month from 7/7/23 to 8/8/23 using a repeated measures design. This study used a retrospective chart review with general target behaviors to determine the effectiveness of ABA treatments using discrete trial training and mass trials across time and age categories in a naturalistic environment. Results A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated statistical significance (sphericity assumed), F(2,168) = 31.663, p < 0.001 (time). Multiple comparisons using bootstrapped paired t-tests indicated p < 0.001 on the three comparisons. There was a significant interaction effect (sphericity assumed) with time x age category, F(8,168) = 2.918, p = 0.004. Interaction contrasts indicated statistically significant differences over time within the 1-4 years, 5-8 years, and a portion of 9-12 years, and not within the 13-16 years and 17-73 years age groups. Conclusions Autistic individuals receiving ABA demonstrated statistically significant improvement in target behaviors over one month. There was a significant interaction between time and age on target behaviors, suggesting a significant association between time and age categories. The reporting of ongoing intervention outcomes provides further justification for continued treatments relative to target behavior mastery with autistic individuals.