A Systematic Review of Abduction Prevention Research for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

While abduction remains a rare occurrence in the United States, many parents and caregivers have concerns about children’s reactions to strangers and other safety-related behaviors. Abduction is a risk for all children, but may be of specific concern for people with disabilities due to social skill and communication deficits. Behavior analytic interventions can be used to address skill deficits that may leave children with disabilities vulnerable. Systematic searches of electronic databases, forward, and ancestral searches were conducted to find available research on interventions that address abduction-prevention skills for people with disabilities. Fifteen articles were found and summarized. Current interventions assessed in this research included: behavior skills training, in-situ training, video modeling, and social stories, which were used both alone and in combination. Lures were presented mostly by unknown strangers with some studies including responding to uniformed police officers and known individuals. Generalization and maintenance data were included in the majority of studies, and many studies assessed social validity. Research methods were assessed using the What Works Clearinghouse standards and data were assessed using standards for visual analysis. Limitations of the current research are discussed, and future research recommendations are presented.