Exposure-Focused Family-Based CBT for Youth With ASD and Comorbid Anxiety

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Asperger's Syndrome
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Autism
Specific Phobia
Social Phobia

Interventions: Other: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Other: Treatment as usual

Brief Summary: Autism spectrum disorders affect as many as 1 out of 88 children and are related to significant impairment in social, adaptive, and school functioning. Co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety, are common and may cause substantial distress and impairment beyond that caused by the autism diagnosis. Accordingly, we are proposing a randomized controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy relative to treatment as usual (TAU) in 50 youth ages 6-12 with autism spectrum disorders and comorbid anxiety.

Detailed Description: Autism spectrum disorders affect as many as 1 out of 88 children and are related to significant impairment in social, adaptive, and school functioning. Co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety, are common and may cause substantial distress and impairment beyond that caused by the autism diagnosis. Many children with anxiety disorders, especially those on the autism spectrum, do not receive evidence based treatment, which has fueled the development and evaluation of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Accordingly, we are proposing a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of exposure based CBT that heavily incorporates parents (EF-CBT) relative to a TAU condition (TAU) in 50 youth ages 6-12 years with ASD and comorbid anxiety disorder(s).

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Outpatient children with an autism spectrum disorder between the ages 6-12 years.
Meets criteria for a diagnosis of one of the following anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, panic disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Minimum score of 12 on the Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale - Severity Scale.
Child has a Full Scale and Verbal Comprehension IQ > 80.

Exclusion Criteria

Current clinically significant suicidality or engagement in suicidal behaviors within the last 6 months.
Presence of any clinical features requiring a higher level of care (inpatient or partial hospital treatment).
Any lifetime diagnosis (meeting DSM-IV criteria) of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder; or Substance abuse in the past 6 months.
Initiation of an antidepressant medication within 10 weeks before study enrollment or an antipsychotic medication 6 weeks before study enrollment or the child has changed the dose of an established medication within 6 weeks before study enrollment (4 weeks for antipsychotic) or during psychotherapy (unless the dose is lowered because of side effects). If the child is on a medication, she or he can remain on it at its current dose. While in their treatment arm, children randomized to the EF-CBT condition will not be able to continue or initiate psychosocial interventions targeting anxiety(psychotherapy, certain types of social skills training, applied behavior analysis targeting anxiety). Those in the TAU arm will be able to seek out psychiatric/psychological services at their discretion.

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Condition	Cognitive Behavioral Therapy	This arm is the experimental condition; it consists of 12 weekly CBT sessions. The therapy protocol will begin with an introductory education session which will include development of a fear hierarchy, followed by 11 sessions of in vivo exposures to feared triggers.
Treatment as Usual	Treatment as usual	This arm acts as the comparison condition. Participants randomized to this arm will be instructed to continue receiving their prior interventions as recommended by their providers (e.g., psychotherapy, social skills training, behavioral interventions, family participation in family therapy or a parenting class, or pharmacological interventions). Treatment changes (e.g., medication increase, starting psychotherapy in the community) are not prohibited and will be monitored. Thus, treatment will continue as it would in standard practice; and will be monitored through periodic study assessment.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale	After an average of 12 weeks (post-treatment)	This scale measures the severity of anxiety symptoms in children. The total scale range is 0-30 where 0 is the minimum and 30 the maximum. Higher scores correspond to more severe anxiety symptom severity. The total scale was used which corresponds to summing the 6 severity items. The outcome measure is reporting a change score in which the score at baseline is compared to the score at 12 weeks (post-treatment). This is analyzed as a function of groups/condition (cognitive behavioral therapy versus Treatment as Usual).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Clinical Global Impression - Severity Scale	After an average of 12 weeks (Post-treatment)	This scale measures the severity of anxiety symptoms in children. The total scale range is 0-6 where 0 is the minimum and 6 the maximum. Higher scores correspond to more severe anxiety symptom severity. The scale consists of only 1 item that a clinician rates based on their judgement of anxiety severity. The outcome measure is reporting a change score in which the score at baseline is compared to the score at 12 weeks (post-treatment). This is analyzed as a function of groups/condition (cognitive behavioral therapy versus Treatment as Usual).