150 Chapter 6 mainly quantitative timeseries analytical inquiries in different clinical case studies with less measurements (e.g., 91 (Fartacek et al., 2016) or 138 (Schiepek et al., 2016)) and more measurements (e.g., 1.476 (Wichers et al., 2016)). Based on these studies (Fartacek et al., 2016; Schiepek et al., 2016; Wichers et al., 2016) we would we expect that altering between different phases over time is a finding that is likely to replicate. However, other clients without such chronic challenging behavior and without such an institutionalized background would likely show very different patterns. That is, dynamic patterns with qualitatively different – and potentially less strong – attractor states. At this point, it remains speculation how this case study’s findings relate to other clients. The surge of EMA applications in clinical settings during the past years suggests that large n = 1 datasets may become more commonly available. Replicating our three-step method would allow for between-person comparisons, shedding light on how (a)typical the nature of our participant’s attractor states and number of change-points was, compared to others (e.g., people with borderline personality disorder and/or in residential mild intellectual disability care). The study altogether illustrates the added value of in-depth case-study research (Hekler et al., 2018) and the utility of complex systems principles to guide such an inquiry. Our three-step approach adheres to recent calls for holistic and dynamic accounts of challenging behaviors in borderline personality disorder (Selby et al., 2022) . Over time, few (if any) if-then relationships could be said to possibly explain the participant’s challenging behavior, substantiating it as a complex phenomenon that is difficult to grasp. Our results thus make explicit why care professionals describe to these behaviors as “complex” (Griffith & Hastings, 2014). Nevertheless, indepth idiographic science can help disentangle this complexity, generating new insights relevant for practice. Zooming out revealed different phases of challenging behaviors. For staff it is good to recognize available attractors and adjust care accordingly. With our participant it illustrated that she – just as anyone – has both ups and downs. Her desirable attractors actually emerged more often than desirable ones (three periods of low aggression and selfinjury vs. two periods with high aggression and self-injury). Moreover, her desirable patterns were less easily malleable than undesirable ones. For the participant, this means that when things are down, keeping in mind better times are ahead is as hopeful as it is realistic. Repeating this idiographic design on other people with chronic challenging behavioral patterns may therefore nuance the bad reputation they may have at the care facility.
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