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Motivational Refinements for Facilitating Reinforcement Schedule Thinning
NCT05790668 · View on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
Study Summary
Destructive behavior represents a comorbid condition of developmental disability for which risk increases with intellectual disability severity, communication deficits, and co-occurring autism spectrum disorder. Destructive behavior, such as self-injurious behavior and aggression, causes harm to the child and others and increases the risk for institutionalization, social isolation, physical restraint, medication overuse, and abuse. Clinicians have used functional analyses to identify the variables that reinforce destructive behavior and to develop effective, function-based treatments. Functional communication training (FCT) is an empirically supported, function-based treatment that decreases destructive behavior. Using FCT, the clinician teaches the child to use a functional communication response (FCR) to request the reinforcer maintaining destructive behavior, while placing destructive behavior on extinction. For example, if functional analysis results showed that attention reinforced destructive behavior, the clinician would provide attention when the child used the FCR ("Play with me, please") and would not provide attention for destructive behavior. Two limitations of FCT are that (a) schedules of reinforcement maintaining the FCR must often be thinned gradually to levels that are practical for caregivers to implement consistently in the home and in the community, and (b) this necessary process of reinforcement schedule thinning regularly causes destructive behavior to increase following initially effective treatment, a form of treatment relapse called resurgence. The current project aims to improve these limitations of FCT by (a) hastening the process of reinforcement schedule thinning by removing unnecessary schedule-thinning steps using the results of a progressive interval assessment and (b) mitigating the resurgence of destructive behavior by providing stimuli that highly compete with the reinforcer maintaining destructive behavior. The investigators will
Conditions Studied
Interventions
- BEHAVIORAL Traditional Schedule Thinning
- BEHAVIORAL PIA-Informed Schedule Thinning
- BEHAVIORAL PIA-Informed Schedule Thinning with Competing Stimuli
Study Locations (2)
New Jersey
- Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center — New Brunswick
- Rutgers University Center for Autism Research, Education, and Services — Somerset
Trial Details
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Enrollment Target | 30 participants |
| Start Date | 2023-10-24 |
| Est. Completion | 2028-08-31 |
| Phase | NA |
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Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗What the Registry Record Tells You About NCT05790668
The ClinicalTrials.gov registry entry for NCT05790668 describes a study currently listed as recruiting. It is categorized as NA, which is the standard way researchers label where a study sits along the investigational pathway from early safety work through later efficacy and post-marketing evaluation. The registered enrollment target is 30 participants, a figure that helps gauge the scale of data the investigators plan to collect. The listed sponsor is Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, which has 603 total studies on file at ClinicalTrials.gov, and sponsors are the parties responsible for study design, oversight, and regulatory filings.
The record links to 2 conditions, with Decreasing Destructive Behavior appearing as the primary indexed condition, and to 3 interventions — of which Traditional Schedule Thinning is the first listed. Interventions can include drugs, devices, procedures, behavioral programs, or observational arms, and each is tracked as a separate registry field so that downstream queries can filter accurately. When a trial lists multiple interventions, it usually reflects a multi-arm design or a comparison protocol rather than a single treatment being tested in isolation. The brief summary published in the registry is the clearest source of protocol intent and should be read before drawing conclusions from any sidebar tags.
Geographic footprint matters for practical reasons: NCT05790668 reports 2 study locations spanning 1 distinct geographic area — top geographies include New Jersey. A larger site network tends to correlate with broader recruitment capacity, but it does not imply anything about study quality, and site-level enrollment status can diverge from the overall registry status shown above. Every data point on this page comes from the public ClinicalTrials.gov dataset and is reproduced here for reference only; it is not a medical recommendation, an endorsement of the sponsor, or an invitation to enroll. Verify current status, eligibility criteria, and contact details directly at ClinicalTrials.gov, and discuss any participation decision with your own healthcare provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is clinical trial NCT05790668 about?
NCT05790668 is a clinical study titled "Motivational Refinements for Facilitating Reinforcement Schedule Thinning". Destructive behavior represents a comorbid condition of developmental disability for which risk increases with intellectual disability severity, communication deficits, and co-occurring autism spectrum disorder. Destructive behavior, such as self-injurious behavior and aggression, causes harm to the...
What is the current status of trial NCT05790668?
This trial is currently recruiting. It is a NA study. The enrollment target is 30 participants. The study started on 2023-10-24. Estimated completion is 2028-08-31.
What conditions does trial NCT05790668 study?
This clinical trial studies the following conditions: Decreasing Destructive Behavior, Increasing Functional Communicative Behavior. These conditions were identified from the trial registry and reflect the primary focus areas of the research.
What interventions are being tested in trial NCT05790668?
The interventions under investigation include: Traditional Schedule Thinning (BEHAVIORAL), PIA-Informed Schedule Thinning (BEHAVIORAL), PIA-Informed Schedule Thinning with Competing Stimuli (BEHAVIORAL). Each intervention is being evaluated for safety and efficacy as part of this clinical study.
Who is sponsoring clinical trial NCT05790668?
This trial is sponsored by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, which has 603 total clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. The sponsor is responsible for the study's design, funding, and regulatory compliance.
Where is trial NCT05790668 being conducted?
This trial has 2 study locations across New Jersey. Contact the study sites directly through ClinicalTrials.gov for enrollment availability.
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