Treating Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior in Mentally Retarded Adults

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Abstract
Three mildly mentally retarded adults who lived in the community were treated for obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The patients were all males who displayed clothes and body checking for extended periods of time prior to initiation of the study. Treatment consisted of differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior for not exhibiting target behaviors, and overcorrection as response suppression was used when inappropriate responses occurred. Experimental conditions were baseline, treatment, and follow up. This was carried out in a multiple baseline design across behaviors, settings, and targets, using time-sampling and self-ratings of response severity via retrospective analysis of videotapes. To establish a social validation criterion, community members were asked to rate tapes of patient behavior from baseline to the end of treatment. Statistical analyses of these ratings were significant with respect to perceived improvement in appropriateness on the target behaviors. Similarly, on frequency counts, target behaviors and self-ratings of anxiety rapidly improved with the advent of treatment. These gains were maintained at the three month follow-up.

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