A preliminary review of social validity assessments in applied behavior analysis research and practice

Social validity serves as one of the critical aspects of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and should play a crucial role in informing interventions. Previous reviews have investigated the extent to which social validity assessments are employed in articles published in ABA journals such as the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and these results suggest that social validity assessment in ABA-based practices often appears to be an afterthought. While previous reviews presented the frequency of social validity use in ABA literature, we need more investigations into the specific characteristics of the social validity assessments used or under used in research or practice. This review extends and supplements previous reviews by adding detailed analyses of four key aspects of social validity assessments (i.e. type, dimension, respondent, and time). Moreover, the current review examined whether any disparities exist concerning the key aspects of social validity assessments reported in journals focusing on research (i.e. JABA) and practice (i.e. Behavior Analysis in Practice; BAP). The findings indicate no discernible differences between JABA and BAP concerning four key aspects of social validity assessment. Implications related to research and practice of ABA regarding key aspects of social validity assessments are discussed.