Abstract
Carbamazepine (Tegretol), an anticonvulsant medication, was evaluated within a double blind, placebo controlled, single subject experimental design to assess its effectiveness for reducing self-injury and disruptive Tourette's-like behavior presented by an 11-year-old girl with mild mental retardation and suspected partial complex seizure disorder. Results of the study showed self-injury, growling noises, and facial grimacing as completely suppressed following treatment with Carbamazepine. Additional disruptive behaviors, including off-task, noncontextual speech, and foul language were either minimally responsive or nonresponsive to treatment. Several behavior modification techniques were added to the treatment protocol to address these behaviors and assessed in combination with carbamazepine using an alternating treatments design format. The addition of behavior therapy yielded equivocal results. Discussion focused on the use of carbamazepine in the treatment of behavior disorders.
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Barrett, R.P., Payton, J.B. & Burkhart, J.E. Treatment of self-injury and disruptive behavior with carbamazepine (Tegretol) and behavior therapy. Journal of the Multihandicapped Person 1, 79–91 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01098249
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01098249