Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Conditions
Keywords
parents, autism, physical activity, preschoolers, health promotion, active play, caregivers
Brief summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if WE PLAY for Parents can improve caregivers' knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and skills promoting physical activity with their young child with autism. The main questions it aims to answer are: (1) Do participants who complete WE PLAY for Parents improve their knowledge, behavior intentions, perceived behavior control, self-efficacy, and parenting practices related to physical activity promotion with their child (Primary Hypotheses); and (2) Do participants view WE PLAY for Parents as acceptable, understandable, and feasible \[secondary hypothesis)? Researchers will compare the WE PLAY for Parents group \[experimental arm\] to a Waitlist Control group to see if there are differences in the variables listed in the primary hypothesis. Participants will: (1) Complete a set of questionnaires at three timepoints: pre-training, post-training, and 3-month follow-up that each take between 10-15 minutes; (2) be randomly assigned to take the training over the next two weeks or be offered the training after 3 months. The online training takes about 90 minutes. It includes watching informational videos, viewing video clips of adults helping children be active, reading handouts on behavior management tips and social stories, participating in an anonymous discussion board with other parents, and completing a self-assessment.
Detailed description
After completing a study interest form to determine eligibility and providing informed consent, participants will be randomized to the WE PLAY for Parents or a Waitlist Control group. At week 0, all participants will complete the pre-test survey and WE PLAY for Parents group participants will receive access to the WE PLAY for Parents intervention. At week 2, participants in both groups will complete a post-training survey. At week 14, participants in both groups will complete a three-month follow-up survey. At week 14, after completing the third survey, participants in the Waitlist Control group will receive access to WE PLAY for Parents.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALWellness Enhancing Physical Activity for Young Children: Parent Version (WE PLAY for Parents)
WE PLAY for Parents is an online intervention that includes an asynchronous online training with written material about physical activity promotion. Users view video clips of adults promoting active play with young children, review handouts with behavior management tips and social stories, participate in an anonymized discussion board with other parent participants, and complete a self-assessment. Intervention completion is takes between 1.5 to 2 hours.
Sponsors
Northeastern University
Society for Pediatric Psychology
APA: American Psychological Association
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
This is a waitlist control RCT design. The waitlist group will receive access to the intervention (WE PLAY for Parents) at the end of their study participation (after the final data point is collected at the 3-month follow-up survey).
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Parents or caregivers (who are at least 18 years of age) of children with a diagnosis of autism. * The autism diagnosis for the child can be from a school or medical setting. * The parent or caregiver's child with autism must be between 2 years 11 months and 5 years, 11 months of age. * Parent or caregivers must be able to read and write in English.
Exclusion criteria
* Parents or caregivers who do not have a child with autism. * Adults who do not have children. * Parents or caregivers who cannot read and write in English.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from Pre-Training in Parental Confidence in Promoting Physical Activity for their Children on the Preschool Parent Confidence Questionnaire (PPCQ) at Week 2 | Pre-training (Week 0), Post-training (Week 2) | The PPCQ is a 17-item, self-report instrument measuring parental confidence in promoting physical activity for their children (Coleman, 2010). The 17 items are rated 0 (not confident)-10 (totally confident), yielding a total score (0-170) with higher scores indicating higher parental self-efficacy. The PPCQ demonstrates strong reliability (α = 0.92-0.94). |
| Change from Pre-Training in Parental Physical Activity Knowledge at Week 2 | Pre-training (Week 0), Post-training (Week 2) | The physical activity knowledge test measures parental knowledge of physical activity promotion among young children with autism. The measure contains 10 multiple-choice items that were developed based on content from the WE PLAY for Parents online intervention. Scores range from 0-10 with higher scores indicating stronger knowledge. |
| Change from Pre-Training in Parental Behavioral Intention and Perceived Behavioral Control on the Adapted Early Childhood Educator Movement Behavioral Intention and Perceived Control Questionnaire (ECE-MBIPC) at Week 2 | Pre-training (Week 0), Post-training (Week 2) | An adapted version of the validated ECE-MBIPC assesses behavior intentions and perceived behavior control over five physical activity-related behaviors. The 10 items are rated using a 7-point, Likert-type scale, and generate composite scores for behavioral intention (5 items) and perceived control (5 items), with higher scores indicating greater likelihood of engagement. Composite scores range from 0-35 for behavioral intention and perceived control. The ECE-MBIPC questionnaire shows high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha \> 0.85 across subscales) (Bruijns et al., 2023). |
| Change from Pre-Training in Parental Physical Activity Promotion Practices on the Preschooler Physical Activity Parenting Practices (PPAPP) at Week 14 | Pre-training (week 0), 3-month Follow-Up (week 14). | The Engagement subscale of the PPAPP measures parental encouragement of physical activity. This subscale includes 15 items that are rated using a 5-point scale. Scores range from 0-75 and higher scores indicate more frequent PA-promoting practices. Cronbach's α values= 0.87-0.92 (O'Connor et al., 2014). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Describe Acceptability, Understanding, and Feasibility of the WE PLAY for Parents Intervention with the Usage Rating Profile-Intervention Revised (URP-IR) at Post-Training | Post-training (Week 2) | The URP-IR assesses intervention acceptability (7 items), understanding (3 items), and feasibility (6 items). Items are rated using a 6-point scale with higher scores reflecting greater likelihood of intervention adoption and use (α = 0.72-0.95) (Briesch et al., 2013). |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTHaley V Medeiros, M.S./CAGs
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJessica Hoffman, PhD, NCSP
Northeastern University
Outcome results
None listed