NCT01177969

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Anxiety Disorders in Autism: Adapting Treatment for Adolescents

CBT for Anxiety Disorders in Autism: Adapting Treatment for Adolescents

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1 / Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 33 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of South Florida · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 11 Years – 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Comorbid anxiety disorders affect as many as 80% of youth with autism spectrum disorders, causing substantial distress and impairment over and above the autism spectrum diagnosis alone. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the gold standard treatment among typically developing youth with an anxiety disorder and when adapted, shows promise in children with ASD and comorbid anxiety. However, there is currently no psychotherapy protocol tailored to meet the unique needs of young adolescents with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and comorbid anxiety. Given this, the present study seeks to develop and test a new CBT therapy in adolescents with autism and comorbid anxiety.

Detailed description

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect approximately 1 out of 150 children and adolescents in the United States, making them one of the most common neurobiological conditions. Comorbid anxiety disorders affect as many as 80% of youth with ASD, causing substantial distress and impairment over and above that caused by an ASD diagnosis alone. While cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been established as the gold standard treatment for anxiety disorders among typically developing youth, a protocol does not exist for early adolescents with ASD and comorbid anxiety disorders. Accordingly, we are proposing to develop a CBT protocol for anxiety and comorbid ASD in early adolescence. Initial protocol development efforts will focus on adapting relevant treatment elements from an effective CBT program for younger children with ASD and comorbid anxiety to the characteristics and clinical needs of early adolescents. Thereafter, protocol and measure development will be refined during Phases I and II of this study through our experiences treating a total of 20 young adolescents (ages 11-14 years - 10 will be treated at USF; 10 at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)) with ASD and comorbid anxiety disorder(s). The CBT protocol will then be examined in a trial comparing CBT to a waitlist condition (N = 32 total; 16 at each study site). The two recruitment sites for this study are the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of South Florida. The University of Miami will assist with quality assurance checks. Considering the rising number of youth diagnosed with ASD, and the lack of tested treatment options for those young adolescents with comorbid anxiety, our proposed work toward an efficacious CBT protocol will provide a timely contribution to public health efforts.

Conditions

• Anxiety Disorders in Youth With Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy	The form of treatment will involve 16 weekly meetings of about 90 minutes each. Sessions involve both the child and parent and involve teaching youth how to cope with their anxiety through a variety of behavioral techniques.
BEHAVIORAL	Wait-list	A wait-list essentially involves not receiving treatment for a specified period of time (in this case 16 weeks). No active treatment is provided; rather, the family 'waits'.

Timeline

• Start date: 2009-11-01
• Primary completion: 2014-04-01
• Completion: 2014-04-01
• First posted: 2010-08-09
• Last updated: 2014-07-01
• Results posted: 2014-07-01

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States