Autism Spectrum Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
A feasibility controlled trial of an eight-session group intervention for siblings of children who have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children will be recruited from a multi-academy trust of nine schools. Due to the on-going impact of COVID-19 restrictions, children will be allocated to the intervention condition (eight session support group) if they are physically attending school and to the control condition (receipt of a booklet) if they remain at home. Pre and post outcome measures will be completed by children and their parents in both research arms.
Interventions
OTHERNone - control condition
The second arm of the study is a control condition in which participants will be given a tailored booklet to complete at home as it was deemed unethical to provide them with nothing.
OTHERSibling support group
The intervention is a novel, 8 session sibling support group which has been created for the purpose of the study.
Sponsors
University of Surrey
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Years to 11 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. 7-11 years old. 2. Must have a sibling who has a formal diagnosis of ASD. 3. Must be competent in the English language. 4. Must be in mainstream education. 5. Must be willing and able to engage in an eight-session group intervention (including being accompanied to and from the group by their parents/carers). 6. Must be registered with a GP and parental consent gained to inform the GP that the sibling is attending the group.
Exclusion criteria
1. If the sibling has a diagnosis of ASD themselves. 2. If there are any clear risk concerns (e.g. any thought or intent to harm self or others, involvement in court proceedings or with the criminal justice system). 3. If the sibling is currently receiving any other psychological treatment. 4. If the sibling has a learning disability or difficulty that will make it hard to access the group content and/or capacity to provide informed consent.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, Goodman et al., 2009) scores | Pre (Week 1) and post (Week 6) intervention | Questionnaire used to measure effectiveness pre and post intervention or control condition. Lower scores indicate better outcome. |
| Change in Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL V4.0; Varni, Seid & Kurtin, 2001) scores | Pre (Week 1) and post (Week 6) intervention | Questionnaire used to measure effectiveness pre and post intervention or control condition. Higher scores indicate better outcome. |
| Change in Knowledge of Autism Questionnaire (KAS; Ross & Cuskelly, 2006) scores | Pre (Week 1) and post (Week 6) intervention | Questionnaire used to measure knowledge of autism pre and post intervention or control condition. Higher scores indicate better outcome. |
| Change in Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs, Law & Jacob, 2015) scores Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs, Law & Jacob, 2015) | Pre (Week 1) and post (Week 6) intervention | Questionnaire used to measure effectiveness pre and post intervention or control condition. Higher scores indicate better outcome. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Experience of Service Questionnaire (ESQ, Attride-Stirling, 2002) | Post intervention (6 weeks after Time 1) | Questionnaire used to measure experience post intervention or control condition. Higher scores indicate better outcome. |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed