A Systematic Review on Functional Analysis of Noncompliance

Noncompliance is a common caregiver concern that can have adverse effects on the learner. Although functional analysis is often employed for other forms of problem behavior (e.g., aggression, property destruction), it is infrequently conducted for noncompliance. Noncompliance is often hypothesized to be maintained by escape from demands. However, to date, no study has examined the prevalence of variables that maintain noncompliance or intervention outcomes despite their importance in informing intervention. Thus, the purpose of this review was to conduct a systematic literature review of published functional analysis of noncompliance to determine the prevalence of environmental variables that maintain noncompliance and subsequently examine the efficacy of noncompliance interventions based on functional analysis outcomes. Results indicate noncompliance was maintained by escape from demands in half of the studies identified, and consequence-based interventions were more efficacious than antecedent-based interventions.