NCT06179953

Emotional Skills Training with Social Robot

Evaluate the Effect of Social Robot Mediation on the Development of Emotional Skills

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 5 Years – 10 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that involves difficulties especially in the sphere of social interaction, social communication, and restricted and stereotyped behavior patterns. In particular, emotional regulation is a central developmental skill. In fact, the emotional dysregulation observed in children with autism results in increased social and behavioral difficulties over time. Therefore, the present protocol aims to test the role of a human-assisted social robot as a mediator of social-emotional understanding intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The children, will be divided into two groups, an experimental one in which training will be conducted through the use of social robot and control group which will be conducted through traditional therapy.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	NAO intervention	The protocol is divided into 4 stages: 1. EMOTION RECOGNITION - "Mime Game": activity aimed at acquiring the ability to label basic emotions. 2. EMOTION/SITUATION ASSOCIATION - "How do I feel when...?" game: presentation of social situations to acquire the ability to attribute the emotion associated with the situation presented. 3. DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS - "Think-Feel Game": activity aimed at differentiating thoughts from emotions and acquiring the skill of linking a thought to an emotion. 4. LEARNING A REPERTOIRE OF USEFUL THOUGHTS: acquisition of useful thoughts related to certain emotional situations. The robot provides instructions and if the child requests it, it elects prompts.
OTHER	Traditional intervention	The protocol is divided into 4 stages: 1. EMOTION RECOGNITION - "Mime Game": activity aimed at acquiring the ability to label basic emotions. 2. EMOTION/SITUATION ASSOCIATION - "How do I feel when...?" game: presentation of social situations to acquire the ability to attribute the emotion associated with the situation presented. 3. DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS - "Think-Feel Game": activity aimed at differentiating thoughts from emotions and acquiring the skill of linking a thought to an emotion. 4. LEARNING A REPERTOIRE OF USEFUL THOUGHTS: acquisition of useful thoughts related to certain emotional situations. The therapist provides instructions, and if the child has difficulty responding, he or she may ask the operator for prompts.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-06-05
• Primary completion: 2024-02-06
• Completion: 2025-04-24
• First posted: 2023-12-22
• Last updated: 2025-01-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Italy