Effect of Parenting With Positive Interven on Comm Inclusion for Military Connected and Dependents With Autism

Virginia Commonwealth University16 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this research study is to find out if a training program for parents with military dependent or connected children with autism (ASD) who have challenging behavior will help those children and their families participate in more community activities. The training program, called Parenting with Positive Behavior Interventions, may help military parents learn new tools that will help their children with autism and challenging behavior attend community activities more easily.

Participants will be randomly assigned (like the flip of a coin) to either immediately receive the Parenting with Positive Behavior Interventions or you will be asked to wait in a control condition for six months and then receive the same intervention. Participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any one of the groups (get the treatment immediately or wait 6 months) but will be given a chance to receive the intervention regardless within 6 months. In this study, participants will be asked to do the following things: 1. Attend (virtually or in-person) a one-hour monthly training about behavior interventions for children with autism. 2. Participate in two 60- minutes sessions with a behavior coach (virtually or in-person) each month to talk about a community goal they want to complete with their child. 3. Attend an optional 60-minute meeting with other research participates each month to talk about their experience learning how to manage their child's behavior. 4. Work with a researcher to fill out a series of questionnaires 3 times during the study. These questionnaires will ask about participants, their child's challenging behaviors, stress related to community activities with their child, and how often they participate in community activities with their child with autism and challenging behavior.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Autism

Interventions

Parenting with Positive Behavior InterventionsBEHAVIORAL

Parenting with Positive Behavior Interventions is a 5 month packaged intervention. The curriculum and each element of the training and coaching program is described in detail below. Each month, participants will participate in the following five activities: 1. Didactic Training: Participants will view a presentation 2. Workbook/Homework: Participants will complete a guided worksheet 3. Coaching Meeting - Planning: Participants will meet with a coach who is an expert in autism and behavior 4. Coaching - Observation/ Feedback: The coach will observe parent implementing the strategy, then provide feedback and direction regarding use of technique 5. Virtual Parent Community of Support Meeting: Attend parent led community support meeting to network, share experiences and information, and exchange ideas

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 5 YearsMax age: 11 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: Parent Inclusion Criteria: 1. Be older than 18 years 2. a. Serve or be the partner of a person who serves (or served, in the case of a deceased member) in the military(active duty, retired, medically discharged, deceased or on reserves) b. Be connected to the military (works as a civilian on base, works as a federal employee to provide services on base, provides services to the military, or is a contractor with the military OR has an immediate family member other than the parent who lives with the child and is active duty, retired, medically discharged, deceased or on reserves) 3. Be the parent of a child with ASD who is between the ages of 5 - 11 4. Be able to provide consent to participate Child inclusion criteria: 1. Be a military dependent child (a military dependent child is a child with a parent, step-parent or guardian who is currently serving in, retired or medically discharged from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, or the National Guard on active duty or reserves or a parent or guardian died in service of one of the branches of military listed above.) 2. Be a military connected child (a child whose parent works as a civilian on base, works as a federal employee to provide services on base, provides services to the military, or is a contractor with the military OR a child who has an immediate family member other than the parent who lives with the child and is active duty, retired, medically discharged, deceased or on reserves) 3. Have a medically diagnosed and/or educational eligibility label of autism, autism spectrum disorder, or any other condition associated with autism 4. Display challenging behavior at home or in the community. 5. Be between the ages of 5 - 11 Exclusion Criteria: Parent Exclusion Criteria: 1. Be unwilling or unable to consent to participate 2. Be unwilling or unable to provide consent for their child with ASD to participate 3. Be unwilling or unable to participate in the intervention Child Exclusion Criteria: 1. Not living with the parent who is participating in the intervention 2. Hospitalized or in residential treatment outside of the parent's home

Locations (1)

Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, Virginia, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in frequency of child with ASD's challenging behavior

The Behavior Problems Inventory (BPI-01) records the frequency of a child with ASD's challenging behavior on a 4-point scale (never, monthly, weekly, daily). Responses for each item are summed to yield three subscale frequency scores, Self-Injurious Behavior, Stereotyped Behavior, and Aggressive/Destructive Behavior

Time frame: Baseline to 12 months

Change in severity of child with ASD's challenging behavior

The BPI-01 records the severity of a child with ASD's challenging behavior on a 3- point scale (Mild, Moderate, Severe). Item responses are summed to yield three subscale severity scores, Self-Injurious Behavior, Stereotyped Behavior, and Aggressive/Destructive Behavior

Time frame: Baseline to 12 months

Secondary Outcomes

Change in frequency of participation by child with ASD

The Participation and Environment Measure - Children and Youth (PEM-CY) records the frequency of a child's frequency of participation in everyday activities. The survey asks about 25 types of activities. Parents rate how often the child has participated in the activity over the past 4 months on an 8-point scale (never to once in the last 4 months). Item responses are summed to yield three subscale frequency scores, home, school, and community.

Time frame: Baseline to 12 months

Change in involvement during participation by child with ASD

PEM-CY records the level of involvement during a child's participation in everyday activities. The survey asks level of involvement for 25 types of activities. Parents rate how involved the child was while participating in the activity over the past 4 months on an 5-point scale (very involved to minimally involved). Item responses are summed to yield three subscale involvement scores, home, school, and community.

Time frame: Baseline to 12 months

Change in parent desire for change in participation by child with ASD

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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