An Online Evaluation of Work Chat

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study is aiming to see if it is feasible for the intervention Work Chat to be delivered in a completely online setting to adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Detailed Description
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Nearly 50,000 youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) transition from high school to adult life each year, with only 25% of these transition-age youth with ASD (TAY-ASD) getting jobs within 2 years of graduation. TAY-ASD's ability to sustain employment is even more challenging due in part to their social cognitive deficits (e.g., poorly reading social cues) that disrupt communicating with customers, coworkers, and supervisors. Research shows nearly 90% of job dismissals among TAY-ASD are attributed to poor work-based social functioning (e.g., poorly communicating with upset customers). The subsequent unemployment has damaging effects on their mental, physical, and economic health. A critical gap in federally-mandated services to support youth with ASD as they transition from school-to-adult life is the lack of evidence-based practice to enhance their work-based social functioning. Given that TAY-ASD report computerized training tools are highly acceptable and improve their real-world outcomes, the investigators propose to address this critical barrier to sustained employment by developing and evaluating a novel and scalable computerized training tool to enhance their conversations with customers, coworkers and supervisors at work. The investigators are aiming to see if it is feasible for Work Chat to be delivered in a completely online setting and not within schools or other sites. The investigators are also evaluating the tool specifically with employed adults who have autism spectrum disorder.

Official Title
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An Online Evaluation of Work Chat: A Virtual Workday Among Employed Autistic Adults

Conditions
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Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Work Chat


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Autism Spectrum Disorder 18 years or older Has 4th grade or higher reading level Employed or Unemployed and searching for employment within the next 3 months Has access to a computer, laptop, or tablet that has connection to the internet and a camera (not including smartphone) Exclusion Criteria: -

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Work Chat Later<br>This group will not receive Work Chat during the study, but will receive Work Chat access after data collection is complete. | |
| Experimental: Work Chat Now<br>Behavioral: Work Chat: An Interactive Virtual Workday Work Chat will be a simulation training using virtual characters to role-play conversations. It will contain conversations with a coworker, a customer, and a supervisor within a workplace setting. | Behavioral: Work Chat<br>* Work Chat will be a simulation training using virtual characters to role-play conversations. It will contain conversations with a coworker, a customer, and a supervisor within a workplace setting.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Theory of Mind - Hinting Task | Measured by the hinting task (Corcoran, Mercer, & Frith, 1995), which comprises 10 short stories describing an interaction between two characters, all of which end with one of the characters making a hint. At the end of each passage, the participant is asked what the hint meant. If they give a correct response (score 2), they move onto the next item. If they fail, they are provided with extra information to help interpret the hint. A correct recognition of the hint at this stage scores 1. Total score can be 0-20, with a higher score being a better outcome. | Baseline and posttest (approximately 6 weeks after baseline) | 
| Change in Emotion Recognition Ability - MiniPONs | Measured by the MiniPONS, which is a short, multichannel version of the established Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (PONS) test (Rosenthal et al., 1979). The short multichannel version (64 items) available here correlates very highly with the full version and shows reasonable construct validity through significant correlations with other tests of emotion recognition ability. A total score is calculated at the end, total score can be 0-64, with a higher score being a better outcome. | Baseline and posttest (approximately 6 weeks after baseline) | 
| Greater sustained employment by 9 Months | Self-report employment surveys completed at baseline and follow ups. Employment will be tracked as 0 (no job) and 1 (job). Higher scores indicate a better outcome. | 9 Month Follow Up (approximately 9 Months after randomization) | 
| Change in Managing Emotions | The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) is an ability-based test designed to measure the four branches of the EI model of Mayer and Salovey. This study will only use the Managing Emotions Subscale, which measures the ability to be be open to emotions and feelings and integrate emotions with thinking. There are 29 scenarios presented, with higher score ranges indicating a positive outcome and lower score ranges indicating a worse outcome. The score ranges are as follows: Improve (worse), Consider Developing, Competent, Skilled, and Expert (positive). | Baseline and posttest (approximately 6 weeks after baseline) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Anxiety | Measured by the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) self-report survey. Items are on a 5 point scale with 0 being not at all and 4 being extremely. Total score can be 0-80, with higher scores indicating higher anxiety, a worse outcome. | Baseline and posttest (approximately 6 weeks after baseline) |