Association for Behavior Analysis International

The behavioral assessment of compassionate skills in an emerging area of research and focus in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Much of the literature to date evaluates compassion on the part of master's level clinician. The current project seeks to establish reliable assessments of compassionate behavior displayed by direct interventionists in autism treatment settings.The Compassionate Care Assessment Tool evaluates the interactions between the direct interventionists (Registered Behavior Technician) and the child with whom they work. The assessment was designed to measure specific behavioral indices of compassion in an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) setting. Given the nature of the difficulty of operationally defining “compassion”, the current project seeks to obtain reliability between observers to validate the use of the assessment. Alterations to the assessment based on the data regarding reliability will be discussed along with data on the reliability and content validity of the Compassionate Care Assessment Tool. Additionally, data on the use of the Teaching Interaction Procedure to teach elements identified as deficits will be presented.

Taylor et al. (2018) suggested that the application of compassionate care skills in clinical practice may allow for opportunities to listen and gather information related to meaningful parent goals. Yet, empirically validated tools that facilitate the development of these skills are limited (Marchese & Weiss, 2023). Qualitative assessment procedures (e.g., semi-structured interviews) may allow for flexibility in data collection and subsequent analysis to enhance a clinician’s understanding of an individual’s experience. In the current study, ten parents of children with autism participated in semi-structured interviews related to their experiences with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatment and parent training. Then, a qualitative data coding system was systematically developed to summarize these data across key themes that emerged from the interviews. Average intercoder agreement across two independent scorers was 89% (range 75%-100%). Summary of these data across parents and a detailed sample of individual parent responses will be presented. This study demonstrates how qualitative can be systematically gathered, analyzed, and summarized to support the clinical application of compassionate care skills while working with families who have children with autism.

Compassionate care and therapeutic relationships have been the subject of applied behavior analytic (ABA) research over the last few years, specifically looking at parent and practitioner interactions. Melton and colleagues (2023) provided a conceptual analysis that distinguished between empathic and compassionate responses within a radical behavioral framework. Given this framework, we are better able to identify the context under which compassion and/or empathy is exhibited. This distinction highlighted a need for behavior analytic practitioners to discriminate between when empathic or compassionate responses are appropriate given various contexts and situations. A decision-making tool will be reviewed to support practitioners in cultivating their responses to generate greater therapeutic alliances with the families with whom they work. Data reviewing a training package with discrimination training and the tool to Applied Behavior Analysis graduate students will be reviewed. Implications for the potential impact on graduate student coursework and applications of skills will be discussed along with future directions.