Social Validity: Reactions to Exposure

May 16, 2024 | Publications, Social Validity

  • Not all children have negative side effects to exposure, i.e., extinction bursts (7 – 30%). 
  • Negative reactions are brief (e.g., < 2 sessions, < 10 min). 
  • Increases in positive mealtime behaviour like eating are quick (e.g., < 3 sessions).
  • Children of real parents receiving proper treatment and support from specialists still report highly positive ratings of the treatment (4.7 out of 5). 

Engler, C. W., Ibañez, V. F., Peterson, K. M., & Andersen, A. S. (2023). Further examination of behavior during extinction-based treatment of pediatric food refusal. Behavioral Interventions, 38(4), e1974. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1974 

Woods, J.N., Borrero, C.S.W. Examining extinction bursts in the treatment of pediatric food refusal. Behavioral Interventions. 2019; 34: 307-322. https://doi.org/10.1002/bin.1672

See our post on our comprehensive review and discussion paper on social validity in paediatric feeding:

Collaboration across 4 clinics in 3 countries, beyond happy ☺️ & grateful 🙏 for the opportunity to team up🫛🥕with Drs. Phipps, Peterson, & S.A. Taylor! Everything you ever wanted to know about social validity in feeding:

Interested in more about concerns of reactions to behavioural treatments? See this review article:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40614-025-00468-y