None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This aim of this study is to establish the efficacy for the first brief integrated intervention for parents of children with autism aged between 2 and 5 years 11 months of age. It will examine the following outcomes: 1) child externalising behaviours; 2) child social communication symptoms and adaptive functioning; and 3) parenting, parent-child interactions and parental wellbeing. It is hypothesised that at post, the intervention group, relative to the waitlist group, will have significantly lower levels of: 1) child externalising behaviour 2) child social and communication difficulties 3) dysfunctional parenting 4) parenting stress 5) inter-parental conflict. It is hypothesised that children who receive the intervention will have improved adaptive functioning and improved parent-child interaction at post-assessment, relative to the waitlist group. It is also hypothesised that the improvements across child and parent domains at post-intervention will be maintained at three-month follow-up for the intervention group.
Interventions
Participants are parents of children diagnosed with autism aged between 2 and 5 years 11 months of age who are referred (or self-refer) to the Sydney Child behaviour Research Clinic, and would like assistance managing child disruptive behaviour.
Participants randomly allocated to the ParentWorks Spectrum will receive 12 (one hour) 1:1 weekly sessions with a trained clinician. The intervention follows a structured treatment manual and the components of this intervention have been developed from
Participants are parents of children diagnosed with autism aged between 2 and 5 years 11 months of age who are referred (or self-refer) to the Sydney Child behaviour Research Clinic, and would like assistance managing child disruptive behaviour. Participants randomly allocated to the ParentWorks Spectrum will receive 12 (one hour) 1:1 weekly sessions with a trained clinician. The intervention follows a structured treatment manual and the components of this intervention have been developed from current evidence-based treatments to address child externalising behaviours (Module 1; sessions 1-4); parent-child reciprocity and child social-communication skills (Module 2; sessions 5-9); and parental wellbeing (Module 3; sessions 10-12). While the treatment is 12 sessions in duration, up to 15 sessions can be provided in order to provide additional time for the content to be delivered where needed. The assessment and intervention will be delivered online via the platform Zoom. Throughout treatment, clinicians work collaboratively with parents to deliver intervention strategies that target child behavioural difficulties, parent-child interactions, in addition to parental stress and parenting difficulties experienced in the context of parenting a child with autism. Strategies will be taught to parents through active skills training and will involve role-plays, modelling, rehearsing and feedback. This intervention will be delivered by utilising the manual, ParentWorks Spectrum: A parent mediated intervention for young children with autism (Leonard, Hawes, Tully, Eapen & Dadds, 2019). Clinician adherence to treatment content and manual will be monitored using weekly clinician checklists that are developed specifically for this study. Furthermore, session attendance, parental engagement in session, and parent homework completion will be measured to monitor engagement to treatment.
Sponsors
The University of Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
16 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria include: 1.Parents/caregivers of children aged 2 to 5 years 11 months with a diagnosis of autism at baseline; 2. Parents must be able to access high speed internet via computer or tablet (not smart phone) to participate in the intervention and attend weekly sessions (via Zoom) for 12 weeks; 3. Parents comfortable completing questionnaires and treatment sessions in English; 4. If child is receiving medication for behaviour, must be stable on current dose for 4 weeks, with no planned changes to medication regime; 5. Parents would like assistance in managing child disruptive behaviours.
Exclusion criteria
Child exclusionary criteria are: 1. Severe comorbid developmental delay (DQ< 35) or significant vision, hearing or motor impairment; 2. Child has a major medical disorder (e.g., cerebral palsy) that impacts the parent’s ability to attend weekly sessions or child involvement in the program; 3. Family involvement in current legal issues including child custody disputes; 4. Severe parental mental health problems, domestic violence or substance use; 5. Family currently participating in another parenting intervention/research trial.
Outcome results
None listed