NCT04666493

Adapting Anxiety Intervention for Youth With Autism for Rapid Response to COVID-19

Adapting Anxiety Intervention for Youth With Autism for Rapid Response to COVID-19: A Research Project to Provide and Evaluate Virtual Mental Health Care

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 101 (actual)
• Sponsor: Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 8 Years – 13 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will examine if a virtual delivery of a group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) program, specifically using "Facing Your Fears" (FYF) curriculum, is helpful in improving anxiety symptoms for children and youth with ASD. This study will adapt the FYF program for virtual delivery using a platform called "Zoom for Healthcare" and examine its effectiveness.

Detailed description

The research team will adapt the Facing Your Fears (FYF) program, in consultation with program developers, Canadian experts (psychologists) and Holland Bloorview's Research Family Engagement Committee, to allow for virtual delivery of a traditionally in-person intervention. Adaptations will build on preliminary work already piloted by program developers to meet the current needs (e.g., group work with individual support, video practice for exposures, psychoeducation format). Participants will complete one screening phone call and one videoconferencing (Zoom for Healthcare) call with the research team, where the delegated research staff will introduce the program and obtain consent for interested and eligible participants. Participants will be asked to provide consent, then proceed to the second part of the screening to ensure that potential participants meet all eligibility criteria. It will be made clear to participants that providing consent and assent at this time will not guarantee study enrollment. Once eligibility is confirmed, participants will be enrolled in the study and be asked to provide the study team with the participant's ASD diagnostic letter via a secure link (using Sync), complete pre-intervention questionnaires before the start of the program, and post-intervention questionnaires after completing the study intervention. The program will be abbreviated from 14 weeks to 12 weeks to maximize the number of families served during the study period. Each session will be approximately 60-90 minutes (30-45 minutes with parents and children; 30-45 minutes with parents alone). There will be two check-in calls (approximately 30 mins) with each of the families after weeks 7 and 9 of the program. The group facilitators will use the Zoom for Healthcare platform to deliver the intervention virtually.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), specifically using the Facing Your Fears (FYF) curriculum	The Facing Your Fears program (FYF; Reaven et al. 2011) is a CBT-based group treatment program that has been adapted for the needs of children with high-functioning ASD. The current project will adapt the FYF program for virtual delivery and examine its effectiveness.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-12-04
• Primary completion: 2022-01-30
• Completion: 2022-01-30
• First posted: 2020-12-14
• Last updated: 2025-07-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada