Exploring the Impact of Psychotropic Medications on the Temporal Patterns of Behaviour: A Proof of Concept

On average, 60% of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities exhibit challenging behaviours (CB). Management of CB typically involves psychopharmacological and behavioural interventions, used either independently or in combination. Despite limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of psychopharmacological approaches, up to 63% of individuals in this population are prescribed psychotropic medications, often off-label. Behavioural pharmacology research has proposed multiple, and sometimes competing, hypotheses regarding the behavioural effects of these medications, with varying levels of empirical support. A clearer understanding of these mechanisms may help inform objective, evidence-based clinical decision-making. The present study conducted two levels of analysis using data from functional analyses across different medication phases for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who engaged in CB. Level I analysis examined the microstructure of CB by evaluating response bouts and pauses through log survivor plot analysis of inter-response times, providing insight into potential motivational and/or motoric effects associated with medication adjustments. Level II analysis assessed the level of differentiation (LOD) in responding to detect changes in CB sensitivity to alternative reinforcement across medication phases. Results indicated that the log survivor analysis fitted 75% of datasets, whereas the LOD model fitted all datasets. Findings suggest that medication adjustments may be associated with changes in motivational and/or motoric variables, as well as the CB sensitivity to alternative reinforcement. Clinical and research implications are discussed, alongside the strengths and limitations of the analytical approaches.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A. Applied Disability Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department dc:contributor.department

Center for Applied Disability Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Brock University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Ismail, Heba

• SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Psychology::Applied psychology
• PHARMACY::Biopharmacy
• INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS::Caring sciences
• MATHEMATICS::Applied mathematics::Numerical analysis

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10464/20532

OAI record oai:identifier

https://brocku.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Abrocku.scholaris.ca%3A10464%2F20532