The study is a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) relative to a standard community treatment, in youngsters with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The individual CBT program has been tailored over the last five years to the clinical needs of high-functioning youth with ASD.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is among the most common childhood developmental disorders. A key goal in the field is the discovery of methods that reduce core autism symptoms. Core autism symptoms include social-cognitive impairments, pragmatic language deficits, and repetitive and rigid behaviors. The core symptoms tend to be stable and resistant to intervention. Most treatments involve group-based social skills training (SST), with limited effects. No treatment for core autism symptoms in school-aged children with ASD meets American Psychological Association guidelines for possible efficacy. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) offers a novel approach for addressing core autism symptoms in higher functioning school-age youngsters. Initial results suggest that individual CBT may also be promising for reducing core autism symptoms (Wood et al., 2009b; Drahota, Wood et al., 2011). The treatment is based on a contemporary model of memory retrieval competition, employing strategies for enhancing the retention of adaptive conceptual and behavioral responses and the suppression of idiosyncratic beliefs and behaviors in daily social contexts, emphasizing the use of deep semantic processing to enhance memory retrieval. We are proposing a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of individual CBT relative to a standard community treatment in youngsters with ASD.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
70
Therapists will work with families for 32 weekly sessions, each lasting 90 minutes (45 minutes with the child and 45 minutes with the family/parents), implementing the CBT manual for children with ASD (Wood et al., 2007).
In this condition, the child meets with a therapist for 32 weekly sessions, each 90 minutes. Therapists use an established manual to administer a standard community treatment.
Jeffrey Wood
Los Angeles, California, United States
Playground Observation of Peer Engagement scale
An independent evaluator-rated school playground observational measure of joint engagement, which is a valid measure of core autism symptoms with established treatment sensitivity
Time frame: Post-Treatment (week 32)
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