Keeping reductions in self-injury and aggression for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Official title: A Single-Arm Pilot trial for Mitigating Relapse of Severe Problem Behavior
Funded at Auburn University at Auburn · NIH-11176976 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tries a behavioral approach to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities keep improvements in self-injury and aggressive behavior after treatment ends.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Auburn University at Auburn NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Auburn, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $213,186 |
| NIH project number | 5R21HD112724-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11176976 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with intellectual or developmental disabilities who currently show severe self-injury or aggressive behavior and who can participate in behavior-analytic therapy at Auburn or an affiliated clinic.
✕Less likely to help
People without IDD, those without severe problem behaviors, or individuals who cannot engage with behavioral interventions or attend in-person sessions may not benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If I or a family member has intellectual or developmental disabilities and severe self-injury or aggression, this project focuses on ways to prevent those behaviors from coming back after they get better. It builds on proven behavior therapies like functional communication training that often work well in clinics but sometimes stop working when routines, caregivers, or rewards change. The team will deliver intensive behavior-analytic interventions in a specialized setting and test procedures designed to reduce relapse when treatment is moved to new people or places or when alternative rewards are reduced. The work is a pilot carried out at Auburn with trained staff and could include training for caregivers to help changes hold up in daily life.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help people with IDD keep behavior improvements longer, reduce injury and restrictive placements, and lower strain on families and care systems.
How similar studies have gone: Behavior-analytic treatments like functional communication training reliably reduce severe problem behavior, but specific methods to prevent relapse after context or reinforcement changes are relatively new and still being piloted.
Where this research is happening
-
Auburn University at Auburn
Auburn, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Falligant, John — Auburn University at Auburn
- Study coordinator: Falligant, John
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.