AbstractsPsychology

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) is a contextual behavior therapy that utilizes basic behavior principles to implement change inside of session with the idea that it will generalize outside of session. The therapist focuses on punishing problematic behavior (CRB1s) in session and reinforcing more adaptive behavior (CRB2s). The FAP therapist uses the five rules of FAP in order to guide therapy sessions. Although FAP has existed as a therapy for over two decades, there is a limited amount of research examining its efficacy, and the majority of FAP efficacy studies used single-subject data. Although the research on the efficacy of FAP is sparse, some consider single-subject data to be one of the initial steps in developing evidence-based practices (Horner et al. 2005). The current study aimed to synthesize data from FAP single-subject design research in order to provide a quantitative estimate of its efficacy. The results indicated there is variation in demographics of participants, and overall effect sizes for this meta-analysis fell in the “moderately effective” to “fairly effective” range or were considered “significant” depending on the metric used. Overall the results indicate the efficacy of FAP is promising, but there is a need for research with stronger methodology. Advisors/Committee Members: O'Brien, William (Advisor).