The goal of this study is to test how well two group interventions work for middle-school children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of the interventions focuses on teaching parents and adolescent skills to help improve their social functioning and the other focuses on teaching parents and adolescents skills to improve organization, planning, and study skills. Eligible participants will be randomly (like a coin flip) assigned to attend one of the two interventions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
224
Intervention targeting academic executive functioning
Intervention targeting social skills
Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
RECRUITINGBehavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning, 2nd Edition
The BRIEF-2 assesses real-world EF behaviors in the home and school environments. The T-scores range from 30:99 with higher scores being worse.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks.
Homework Problems Checklist
The HPC assesses Homework Completion and Homework Management. Scores for Homework Completion range from 0 to 36 and for Homework Management from 0 to 21. Lower scores are better.
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment at 8 weeks.
Academic Performance Rating Scale
The teacher-completed APRS assesses how well the adolescent is performing academically with 3 subscales (Academic Success, Academic Productivity, and Impulse Control). The two scores to be used in the current study include the Academic Success score which ranges from 7 to 35, while the Academic Productivity score ranges from 12 to 60. Higher scores are better.
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment at 8 weeks.
Children's Organizational Skills Scale
The COSS is a psychometrically strong rating scale assessing Organized Actions, Task Planning, and Memory \& Materials Management. The T scores for each subscale range from 20 to 83 and higher scores indicate worse functioning.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks.
Weekly Calendar Planning Activity
The WCPA is an objective measure of metacognition (i.e., planning, inhibition, problem solving, keeping track of rules, and monitoring passage of time) while performing a multiple-step activity (i.e., scheduling multiple appointments while adhering to various rules). The WCPA will report total appointments entered (0 to 10) and total correct appointments entered (0 to 10) with higher values being better.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks.
Social Skills Assessment (TRIAD)
The TRIAD assesses social skills (i.e., emotion understanding and perspective taking, initiating and ending interactions, responding to others, maintaining interactions and problem solving, and following social rules) rated on a 1 to 4 scale (1=not very well to 4=very well). Items rated 2 or less are considered areas of weakness. Items rated as 3 or above are considered areas of strength.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks.
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