A conceptual framework for understanding why challenging behaviours occur in people with developmental disabilities

Background: To be able to define positive behavioural support (PBS), describe PBS interventions and clarify the individual and organisational competencies needed to support PBS, a clear underlying conceptual framework is needed to identify why challenging behaviours occur.

Method and materials: Non-systematic review and discussion of the state of research and theoretical evidence focusing on vulnerability factors for challenging behaviours, maintaining processes, and the social impact of challenging behaviour.

Results: Understanding challenging behaviour is related most strongly to context. First, challenging behaviours are defined in terms of their social effects. Second, vulnerability factors for challenging behaviour include some biological factors, but mainly psycho-social risks relating to the life situation and inequalities experienced by people with developmental disabilities. Third, social contextual processes are primarily responsible for maintaining challenging behaviours.

Conclusions: PBS is a broad approach to understanding and intervention referring to multiple contributing factors and processes. To describe PBS without reference to an underlying theoretically grounded conceptual framework would lead to an impoverished version of the approach.