Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Behaviour

Tricia Vause

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior; Autism Spectrum Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Functional Behavior-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03123146

09-066-VAUSE

Details and patient eligibility

About

Individuals with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently experience obsessions and/or compulsions that are similar to those specified in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) criteria for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). However, little research exists on effective interventions for OCD symptoms (referred to as OCBs) in ASD. In a randomized controlled trial, a manualized functional behavior-based cognitive-behavior therapy (Fb-CBT) consisting of traditional CBT components (psychoeducation and mapping, cognitive-behavioral skills training, exposure, and response prevention) as well as function-based behavioral assessment will be evaluated. Participants will be assigned randomly to Fb-CBT or treatment as usual (TAU). Primary and secondary outcome measures will be used to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment, and will be administered at pre and post-intervention as well as six month follow-up.

Enrollment: 37 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 7 to 13 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Previous diagnosis of ASD
• Presence of OCBs as defined by Sameness, Ritualistic and Compulsive subscales on the RBS-R
• a Full Scale IQ (WISC-IV; Wechsler, 2004) ≥ 70
• parent indicated no planned change in child medication during the study (unless the physician deemed the change medically necessary)

Exclusion criteria

• participation in treatment for anxiety
• participation in treatment for repetitive behaviour
• participation in treatment for intensive behavioural intervention

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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37 participants in 2 patient groups

Fb-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Functional Behavior-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Group activities, individual work in parent-child dyads, group parent training, and social skills exercises.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Functional Behavior-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Treatment as Usual (TAU)

No Intervention group

Description:

Children assigned to this condition received "usual care," meaning that they could continue with any services. This group acted as a control group whereby access to intervention was patient-directed.