Clinical Trial: CBT for Comorbid Anxiety Disorders in Children With Autism, Asperger Syndrome, or PDD-NOS

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title:

Brief Summary: This study is designed to examine the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program for treating anxiety symptoms, social problems, and adaptive behavior deficits in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Detailed Summary: Anxiety disorders are commonly diagnosed in children with autism, Asperger syndrome (AS), and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Anxiety disorders contribute to children's functional impairment over and above the functional deficits attributable to autism, AS, and PDD-NOS. Thus, investigators have called for the development of anxiety treatments for this population (Attwood, 2003). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been found to be efficacious for anxiety disorders in typically developing children. This pilot study will advance the field by providing an estimate of the treatment effects of CBT for anxiety disorders among children with autism, AS, or PDD-NOS. The sample will include 20 children aged 7-11 years with autism, AS, or PDD-NOS and a comorbid anxiety disorder. Children will be randomly assigned to immediate treatment or a 3-month waitlist. The manualized CBT program includes traditional anxiety treatment components including coping skills training (e.g., cognitive restructuring), in vivo exposure, operant procedures, and parent training. Additional treatment components have been added to enhance intervention response in children with AS or PDD-NOS, including emotion education, social skills/friendship skills training, and peer tutoring/mentoring modules. Trained graduate students with expertise in CBT and developmental disabilities will serve as therapists. Treatment fidelity will be checked using a session-by-session adherence checklist. Treatment acceptability and consumer satisfaction will be assessed at posttreatment, providing guidance on the extent to which the manual will need to be revised. Multiple measures of children's anxiety, including a structured diagnostic interview administered by an independent evaluator, will comprise the primary outcomes. Children's social functioning, adaptive behavior, and service use will also be assessed to determine if CBT can affect relevant distal outcomes. By comparing outcom
Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles

Current Primary Outcome:

  • Score on anxiety diagnostic interview after treatment or waitlist [ Time Frame: post-treatment ]
  • Score on anxiety rating scale after treatment or waitlist [ Time Frame: post-treatment ]


Original Primary Outcome:

  • Score on anxiety diagnostic interview after treatment or waitlist
  • Score on anxiety rating scale after treatment or waitlist


Current Secondary Outcome:

  • Score on daily living skills rating scale after treatment or waitlist [ Time Frame: post-treatment ]
  • Score on children's social functioning and service use after treatment or waitlist [ Time Frame: post-treatment ]


Original Secondary Outcome:

  • Score on daily living skills rating scale after treatment or waitlist
  • Score on children's social functioning and service use after treatment or waitlist


Information By: University of California, Los Angeles

Dates:
Date Received: January 20, 2006
Date Started: January 2005
Date Completion:
Last Updated: March 28, 2012
Last Verified: March 2012