Behavioral Contracting

Another strategy driven by reinforcement principles is behavioral contracting, or contingency contracting. Simply, this represents a statement of a set of behaviors to be followed, and related positive and negative consequences to be carried out conditionally on compliance or noncompliance with the plan. As such, it is the direct translation of the principles described previously for instrumental learning theory. Behavioral contracting has been applied in complement with other cognitive and behavioral strategies, in CBT packages (e.g, problem-solving therapy), across a wide array of disorders, including family-marital problems, substance use disorders, weight loss, smoking cessation, and physical exercise. Aside from targeting specific behavioral excesses or deficits, behavioral contracting can be used as a tool to facilitate compliance with CBT. For example, behavioral contracting maybe used to enhance engagement in exposure therapy, behavioral activation, or response prevention.

Contracting depends on an initial functional analysis that indicates the antecedents and consequences of current behavioral patterns and that suggests ways for modifying antecedents and/or alternative consequences necessary to initiate and maintain behavioral changes. The ways of altering antecedents and consequences were described previously, including removing or modifying antecedents, changing establishing operations, and delivering consequences. A set of parameters determine the effectiveness of a positive or negative consequence for a behavior and should be taken into account when designing behavioral contracts. These include its relative size or significance, the immediacy with which it is delivered, and the consistency of delivery. Consistency is particularly important during the phase of acquisition of a new behavior, whereas ratio schedules of reinforcement are more effective for maintaining a new behavior once it is acquired (see Martin & Pear, 2003).

The critical steps to behavioral contracting have been summarized by Houmanfar, Maglieri, and Roman (2003) as the following: clearly specified and reasonable short-term and long-term goals; clearly specified target behaviors for change, and the conditions under which the target behavior will occur; a monitoring system to establish whether the target behavioral goals are being met; and clearly specified reward contingencies for compliance and consequences for noncompliance. Furthermore, the negotiated contract is to be agreed upon and signed by all participants.

The primary underlying mechanism of behavioral contracting is operant conditioning—the reinforcement of desired behaviors and punishment of undesired behaviors. Successful behavioral change may also raise self-efficacy and serve to disconfirm negative appraisals about oneself and the world that in turn motivate continued behavioral change.

As an example, a client with obsessive compulsive hoarding contracts to discard magazines and newspapers from the living room of his house for 15 minutes each day, just before dinner time, in order to achieve the long-term goal of clearing out his living room. Upon completion of the 15 minutes each day, the client agrees to reward himself by either watching the 10 o’clock news or having dessert after dinner. If the target goal is not met, then the client will neither watch the news nor have dessert. Progress is monitored by a daily log of number of minutes spent discarding materials.

Problems with behavioral contracts can arise when they are too restrictive, appear to be punishing, or are too rigid and do not allow for client input (Houmanfar, Maglieri, & Roman, 2003). Vagueness of the contract, lack of therapist attention to the contract, and lack of encouragement to apply the relevant contingencies may all hinder effectiveness as well. Finally, behavioral contracting is typically not employed directly as an intervention for skill-based behavioral deficits (such as lack of social skills), although it can be used as a tool for encouraging engagement in skill-based behavioral acquisition.

As with CBT in general, behavioral contracting in particular emphasizes change, and such an emphasis can be at odds with cultural influences that restrict the client’s ability to create and implement change (see Hays & Iwamasa, 2006). Thus, contracting for behavioral changes should take cultural and interpersonal constraints into account and be modified accordingly. For example, a behavioral contract designed to increase physical exercise schedules physical activities at times that do not overlap with familial activities so that behavioral change goals do not conflict with familial goals.