Association for Behavior Analysis International

People with developmental disabilities have been reported to have high rates of physical inactivity, overweight, and obesity (Melville, Hamilton, Hankey, Miller, & Boyle, 2007). This symposium presents an overview of three studies that sought to promote physical activity and healthy eating choices. In the first study, an interdependent group contingency was evaluated to promote walking in dyads at a young adult program geared towards individuals with developmental disabilities. This intervention was successful for one dyad, and considerations are discussed with regard to prerequisites of learner capability. In the second study, goal-setting and a peer mentor was paired with participants to promote walking in college students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Two out of three participants were able to increase the number of steps walked per day absent financial incentives or rewards. This may have implications for the use of social reinforcement and support network to promote physical activity. Finally, the third study evaluated the effects of reinforcing positive statements regarding healthy food choice and its effects on preference. A rewards, goal setting, and parallel instructive feedback package was used to promote higher rates of positive statements. While it was successful at increasing both number and variability of statements, it did not appear to have a significant effect on food preference.

An overwhelming number of adults in the United States have failed to meet the prescribed recommendations, with approximately 20% meeting the recommendations (CDC, 2013). Unsurprisingly, the lack of physical activity is also prevalent among college students. According to the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA), only 45.4% of the sampled students engaged in the prescribed recommendations for aerobic activity (ACHA-NCHA II, 2016). In an attempt to increase aerobic physical activity among college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a goal-setting and peer-pairing treatment package was implemented and evaluated with a multiple-baseline-across-participants design. The participants goals were individualized and systematically increased throughout the course of the study. The paired-peers provided daily goal reminders and met with their assigned participant on a weekly basis. The data suggest that goal-setting and peer-pairing were effective in increasing levels of physical activity for two out of three participants.

People with intellectual disabilities have been reported to have high rates of physical inactivity, overweight, and obesity (Melville et al., 2007). This study evaluated a goal-setting and interdependent group contingency strategy on physical activity with four young adults with intellectual disabilities. Aerobic physical activity was measured as accumulated number of steps per school day. Each participant pair accessed preferred items or activities contingent on meeting or exceeding their individual goals. Prior to intervention, the participants average number of steps were 2,693, 3,519, 4,006, and 5,701. During the final week of the intervention, the participants average number of steps were 4,521, 6,016, 5,064, and 7,563, respectively. The data suggest that physical activity levels were higher during the intervention weeks for all four participants. The results provide initial support for the efficacy of goal-setting and group contingency strategies among young adults with intellectual disabilities in a school setting.

Previous research (Hubner et al., 2008; Sheyab et al., 2014) have found positive correspondence between the emission of positive statements and a subsequent increase in the behavior of interest (e.g. reading). This study sought to evaluate these findings in a novel application. Adults with developmental disabilities have been reported to have high rates of overweight and obesity (Melville et al., 2007), and so the researchers sought to evaluate whether reinforcing positive statements regarding healthy food choices would shift preference of food choices in an analogue setting. Four female adults with developmental disabilities participated in the study. Positive statements regarding healthy foods were promoted through goal setting, parallel instructive feedback, and rewards. While this intervention was successful in promoting more varied and a higher number of positive statements, it did not appear to successfully shift preference.