Implementation of a Teacher Classroom Program to Support Preschool Children with Autism or Developmental Problems

Fundació Sant Joan de Déu

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Teacher Training; Developmental Disorders; Teacher Skills in Addressing Child Mental Health Problem

Treatments: Behavioral: Incredible Years® "Helping Preschool Children with Autism" program (IY-HPCA)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06790199

PIC-179-24

Details and patient eligibility

About

The Incredible Years® "Helping Preschool Children with Autism" (IY-HPCA) program is designed for teachers of children aged 2 to 5 years who have students with autism in their classrooms. The program provides tools to support children with autism.

The primary aim of this pilot study is to examine the feasibility of implementing the IY-HPCA intervention among teachers of preschool children (typically aged 2 to 5 years) working in mainstream schools. Specifically, we aim to assess teachers' engagement, acceptability, and satisfaction with the program. Secondarily, we aim to gather preliminary evidence on the program's effectiveness in improving teachers' use of strategies, teacher self-efficacy, and in reducing burnout.

We will conduct an exploratory randomized controlled pilot trial. We aim to recruit approximately 40 teachers, and they will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group.

The intervention consists of six weekly sessions lasting 3 hours each, delivered by clinical psychologists and child psychiatrists specialized in developmental disorders at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, in Barcelona. Two intervention face-to-face groups will be conducted at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.

Feasibility outcomes include program attendance, acceptability, and satisfaction (assessed using the Incredible Years Teacher Workshop Evaluations and the Teacher Satisfaction Questionnaire), as well as fidelity to the intervention delivery (measured with the Leader Checklist). After the intervention, individual interviews with teachers and group leaders will qualitatively assess satisfaction and experiences with the program.

Secondary (effectiveness) outcomes include teachers' use of strategies (Teacher Strategies Questionnaire for Children with Autism), self-efficacy (Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale), and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey).

This study will provide pioneering insights into the implementation of this program within the public mental health and education systems in Spain. This will allow the potential implementation of a wider randomized controlled trial in the future at a larger scale.

Enrollment: 40 estimated patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Teachers working at mainstream schools near the catchment area of Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona.
• Teachers working at mainstream schools with specific programs for children with special needs.
• Teachers of pre-school children.
• Teachers willing to participate in the study and signing the inform consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Teachers working at special education centers instead of mainstream schools.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

40 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention group

Experimental group

Description:

Teachers in the intervention group will receive the Incredible Years-Helping Preschool Children with Autism program (IY-HPCA). They will participate in a 6-session group-based face-to-face intervention. Sessions will last 3 hours, will be delivered weekly at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, and will be led by two trained co-leaders. The following main topics will be covered: (1) language development, (2) social interactions, and (3) emotion literacy and self-regulation. Two groups will be conducted, and each of them can include between 8 and 12 teachers.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Incredible Years® "Helping Preschool Children with Autism" program (IY-HPCA)

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The control group will not receive the intervention. Teachers who are assigned to the control group will continue their usual teaching practice. No restrictions will be placed on schools regarding access to other training and support services during the course of the study, but this information will be monitored as a potential confounder. Teachers who are assigned to the intervention group will be asked not to share the intervention contents with other teachers who are in the control group before the end of the study.