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Identifying the variables maintaining self injurious behavior.

SelectedWorks Author Profiles:

V. Mark Durand

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1988

ISSN

0162-3257

Abstract

Reliability and validity data are reported for an instrument designed to identify variables maintaining self-injurious behavior. The Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) is a 16-item questionnaire that addresses the situational determinants of self-injurious behavior in persons with autism and other developmental disorders. The reliability study indicated that teachers of 50 developmentally disabled persons could agree on the variables presumably maintaining their student's self-injury (interrater reliability), and that they would be in agreement again 30 days later (test-retest reliability). The validity study indicated that teacher's ratings on the MAS of 8 subjects' self-injury predicted how their students would behave in analogue situations. Specifically, the MAS predicted the subjects' self-injurious behavior in situations with decreased adult attention, with increased academic demands, with restricted access to tangibles, and in unstructured settings. The MAS is presented as an alternative or adjunct to more formal functional analyses in efforts to identify the variables controlling self-injurious behavior.

Comments

Abstract only. Full-text article is available only through licensed access provided by the publisher. Published in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 99 117. doi: 10.1007/BF02211821 Portions reprinted in: E.J. Mash and L.G. Terdal (Eds.) (1988). Behavioral assessment of childhood disorders (2nd. ed.). New York: Guilford. Portions reprinted in: Meyer, L.H., & Evans, I.M. (1989). Nonaversive intervention for behavior problems: A manual for home and community. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. Members of the USF System may access the full-text of the article through the authenticated link provided.

Language

en_US

Publisher

Springer

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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