Association for Behavior Analysis International

Anxiety disorders are a highly prevalent co-occurring condition among children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) ranging from specific phobia to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Co-morbid anxiety disorders have a significant negative impact on quality of life, in increased disability and social exclusion. Respondent extinction procedures (exposure), combined with teaching incompatible behavior (relaxation training), and escape/avoidance extinction (response prevention) have been shown to be highly effective in lessening fear/anxiety and escape/avoidance across all sub-types of anxiety disorders. Research syntheses have indicated that the addition of cognitive restructuring adds little to treatment outcomes. The purpose of this panel discussion is to: (a) briefly review the research on ASD and comorbid anxiety disorders; (b) raise the question as to whether BCBAs should and could provide intervention for comorbid anxiety disorders; (c) discuss the graduate education and training needed to target this response class; and, (d) examine the legal and ethical issues related to this area of applied behavior analysis.