Assessment of the Social Validity of Physical Restraint in Behavioral Interventions for Autism with Brazilian Professionals

Abstract

The use of physical restraint (PR) in behavioral interventions to ensure safety in response to severe aggressive behaviors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a controversial subject. Its use should be planned and limited to behavioral emergencies, carried out by trained and supervised professionals. The present study evaluated the social validity of PR in the treatment of ASD with professionals from a Brazilian organization that follows the best practices for safety and implementation of PR, replicating the study by Luiselli et al. (2015). The results show that, overall, participants assessed this procedure as acceptable, effective, and safe, and they agree that it should only be used when all deescalation procedures fail and exclusively to ensure safety. Factors that may influence participants' evaluations are discussed, such as access to information, the need for use, supervision, training, and previous professional experience implementing PR, highlighting the importance of conducting further studies that evaluate the social validity of PR use with different populations.