Behaviour Intervention: The ABC of Behaviour

Management of behaviour after brain injury includes a comprehensive assessment of the individual,
the environment they are in and the impact of the brain injury on cognitive and behavioural
functioning.

Assessment of behaviour should ideally include getting an understanding of:

1. The person – personality, interests, preferences, skills

2. The brain injury, and areas of the brain that are affected
3. The severity and range of cognitive, language and communication difficulties
4. The environment the person is in – social, relationships, accommodation, finances,
transport, community activities and participation and how all of these affect behaviour.
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Antecedents can be divided into five

main kinds:

• organic causes – related to the

brain injury, including physical,
cognitive, communication and
behavioural impairments;
epilepsy, pain, fatigue, or other
A stands for Antecedents which are medical factors
typically any prompts, cues, stimuli,
events or interactions that come before • emotional state – happiness,
a behaviour. Sometimes it is useful to sadness, guilt, anxiety,
think of Antecedents as Triggers for depression, jealousy
behaviour.
• cognitions or thoughts – what
Antecedents: we think about ourselves, others
• may be things that contribute to and events
or cause behaviour
• may happen just before the • the environment we live in or
behaviour(seconds or minutes) or things that surround us – noise,
a long time before the heat/cold, activity, activities,
behaviour(hours, days, weeks) space, freedom/confinement
• the consequences of behaviour
(reactions from other people for • social relationships –
example) can be antecedents or interactions with others in our
trigger other behaviour environment, family or
community

©The State of Queensland (Queensland Health) 2011 1

Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Service
PO Box 6053 Buranda 4102
 B stands for Behaviour - any
unwanted or inappropriate behaviour
that we want to reduce in:
frequency (how often it happens)
or
intensity (how severe it is).
Behaviour is unwanted or inappropriate
if it interferes with a person’s ability:
ƒ to be independent,
ƒ to pursue quality of life goals,
ƒ to participate in the community, or
ƒ to access services and support
A behaviour should be something that
you can see or observe and describe
clearly. For example, anger is a label
that can be used to describe a range of
different behaviours (for example; yells, Service (ABIOS) Information sheets at
hits people, pinches, swears, pulls
faces, and talks loudly/
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C stands for Consequences which is
what happens after the behaviour has
occurred.
Consequences either increase the
likelihood of a behaviour occurring
again, or reduce the likelihood of the
behaviour occurring again.
Consequences can be things that we
deliberately put in place as a response
to behaviour, or they can be naturally
occurring consequences in the
environment that may influence the
frequency of the behaviour.
Resources
See other Acquired Brain Injury Outreach
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/abios/

The following are some examples of the relationship between Antecedents,

Behaviour, and Consequences. You may be able to think of more than one
antecedent and consequence for each behaviour but these are a few examples.

Examples of ABC Relationship

Antecedent Behaviour Consequence

Asked to put clothes away Yelling, throwing Someone else puts clothes away
while watching TV clothes Next time less likely to put clothes
away
Child sees lollies on shelf Yelling, kicking Mother buys lollies for child
Next time more likely to yell and kick to
get lollies
Fatigue Irritable tone of voice - Person left alone to rest
yelling
Frustration with task - too Hits wall, throws object Hurts hand, stops hitting
hard Stops task
Sexually inappropriate joke or People laugh, show Tells more jokes
comment enjoyment
Touches person on bottom Person ignores Person touches again
touching

©The State of Queensland (Queensland Health) 2011 2

Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Service
PO Box 6053 Buranda 4102