Mindfulness Training and Parent-coaching Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Status: Completed

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Parents; Stress

Treatments: Behavioral: Parent-implemented Early Start Denver Model; Behavioral: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03889821

MBSR and P-ESDM

R40MC30769 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report higher levels of depression and distress than caregivers of typically developing children as well as children with other developmental disabilities. The proposed work tests a novel treatment paradigm that blends Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with an empirically supported and manualized parent training program (Parent-Implemented Early Start Denver Model [P-ESDM]). We hypothesize that directly treating parental distress, while simultaneously providing evidence-based parent training, may greatly enhance child-focused intervention and provide benefits that resonate across the family.

Enrollment: 63 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 12+ months old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Child has diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder
• Child at least 12 months of age but less than 36 months at time of consent
• Parent speaks and reads fluent English

Exclusion criteria

• Severe child sensorimotor impairment that would impact participation in treatment

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

63 participants in 2 patient groups

Child-focused Treatment

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants in this group participate in 12 sessions of the Parent-implemented Early Start Denver Model (P-ESDM).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Parent-implemented Early Start Denver Model

Child- and Parent-focused Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this group participate in 12 sessions of the Parent-implemented Early Start Denver Model (P-ESDM). Parents also participate in 6 separate, individual sessions of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Parent-implemented Early Start Denver Model

Behavioral: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction