None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Adolescents diagnosed with ASD experience persisting deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Contrary to popular belief many children with ASD have insight into their impairments and accurately perceive their social and communication abilities. They experience high levels of social anxiety, loneliness and isolation, despite a strong desire for friends. It is likely that many of these adolescents have much to gain from social skills training. KONTAKT is a manualized Social Skills Training Group (SSTG) program designed for children and adolescents with ASD which aims to improve communication, social interaction skills, reduce the severity of ASD symptoms, improve the ability to empathise and adapt in a group setting. A large randomized controlled trial in Sweden found that adolescents who participated in KONTAKT demonstrated improvements in social skills, behaviour, reduced stress and improved overall functioning as reported by parents immediately following and at three months after the program. However, social skills are at least in part influenced by social cultural contexts and there is a need to understand the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of KONTAKT in an Australian context. The aim of the current project is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a social skills group training intervention, KONTAKT, for Australian adolescents with ASD. In meeting this overall aim this research will be conducted in four phases, commencing with a needs assessment. Phase two will involve the translation and modification of the original KONTAKT manual, and child and parent workbooks from Swedish to Australian English and to the Australian context, inclusive of appropriate homework. Following pilot testing, evaluating the clinical feasibility and acceptability of KONTAKT Australia, phase four will examine the efficacy of the KONTAKT Australia in a two armed randomized controlled trial in a sample of adolescents with ASD.
Interventions
KONTAKT is a manualized Social skills group training program designed for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) aimed at improving communication, social interaction skills, the severity of ASD symptoms, and the ability to empathise and adapt in a group setting. The KONTAKT participants (4-8 participants) meet face to face weekly for 16 weeks for an hour and a half in a group facilitated by two trainers. Sessions are structured according to principals of cognitive behaviou
KONTAKT is a manualized Social skills group training program designed for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) aimed at improving communication, social interaction skills, the severity of ASD symptoms, and the ability to empathise and adapt in a group setting. The KONTAKT participants (4-8 participants) meet face to face weekly for 16 weeks for an hour and a half in a group facilitated by two trainers. Sessions are structured according to principals of cognitive behaviour therapy, behaviour activation, observational learning, psychoeducation and social cognition training. Sessions scaffold knowledge of common social rules and norms, aiming to promote problem solving strategies, emotion recognition and emotion expression. The structure of the program is as follows: Opening round, Reviewing the homework, themed discussion, group activities, snack time, Assigning new homework, and the closing round. The participants will have 20 minutes of homework per week Group activity examples are: Charades, Whispering game, EU-motion (practicing facial expressions on computer using whole-body or face area only), Spin the bottle (with/without a theme), What has changed? Alphabet sentences, Role play (including selection of theme for the ”role play”), Treasure hunt, Blinking game, Joint activity (e.g. baking), Advanced treasure hunt, Stress management: breathing square. Facilitators are trained and have sufficient expertise and clinical experience in working with adolescents with ASD (psychologist, occupational therapist, social worker, doctor, special education, etc.). They should have experience in leading groups. The trainers have received extensive training for 3 full days in methods of delivering KONTAKT in June. To be considered an expert KONTAKT trainer, they will need to submit video recordings of them delivering the program to a group of Adolescents on the spectrum. which they will have done before the trial begins next year. They also will be receiving ongoing supervision while delivering the program. In addition to a trainer's manual, the trainers will receive a Fidelity scale to make sure they are following the KONTAKT program. Before the randomized control trial, there will be three other phases. After delivering the first phase the other 2 phases will run concurrently. 1. Translating the materials from Swedish to Australian English 2. Having focus groups with individuals on the autism spectrum, their parent/carers and therapist regarding social skills groups. A survey with the typically developing Australian adolescents regarding how they usually spend their time. 3. A pilot of the KONTAKT Program
Sponsors
Curtin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
12 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Individuals aged 12 to 17 Clinical consensus diagnosis of ASD as defined by DSM-5 and confirmed by the Autism Diagnostic Observation schedule-2 IQ scores > 70 as measured by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence - Second Edition (WASI-II)
Exclusion criteria
Existing prior comorbid externalizing behaviours as assessed by the Childhood Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Clinically assessed self-injurious behaviour Low intrinsic motivation to participate in a social skills training group Insufficient English language skills
Outcome results
None listed