ABSTRACT

Adolescent lifetime prevalence rates of mental health disorders are estimated to be as high as 50", with anxiety and depression being most common. Understanding anxiety and depression from an Applied behavior analysis (ABA) perspective offers the school psychologist research-supported conceptualizations and evidence-based strategies that are practical, address environmental variables that are easily manipulated, and have the potential to be implemented in school settings. This chapter addresses anxiety and depression, the two most common internalizing mental health problems presented to school psychologists, from an ABA perspective. It outlines behavior analytic conceptualization, and evidence-based strategies derived from ABA. Psychology has offered numerous conceptualizations and etiological formulations for anxiety. Current behavior analytic conceptualizations of anxiety suggest a conditioned avoidance paradigm. Conceptually, the treatment of anxiety involves the extinction of previously reinforced behavior. Systematic desensitization (SD) involves gradually exposing the student to fear-producing stimuli.