Clinical trial NCT04587557: Storytelling With or Without Social Contextual Information in Children With Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development
Official title: The Effects of Storytelling With or Without Social Contextual Information Regarding Eye Gaze and Visual Attention in Children With Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development: A Randomized, Controlled Eye-tracking Study
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Healthy
Lead sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-10-14
Enrollment: 52
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Maximum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study was to examine the effects of storytelling with or without contextual information on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD).

Detailed description: This was a 2 x 2 x 2 randomized controlled trial with 52 children (26 with ASD and 26 with TD) recruited in the community and randomized into four groups: 1) ASD Group 1 - storytelling with contextual information; 2) ASD Group 2 - storytelling without contextual information; 3) TD Group 1 - storytelling with contextual information; 4) TD Group 2 - storytelling without contextual information. All stories were photo-based and static in nature. The only difference between Group 1 and Group 2 was that the stories included and did not include social contextual information, respectively. Training was delivered in small groups, with eight sessions across four weeks, two sessions per week, and 30 minutes per session. Participants' total fixation duration (TFD), total visit duration (TVD), and total fixation count (TFC) on human faces from 20 photos and a video were recorded using the Tobii eye tracker.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria for children with ASD:

* 1) children aged between 6 and 12 years old;
* 2) had a previous diagnosis of ASD from medical professionals;
* 3) studied in mainstream primary school;
* 4) had a composite IQ score of 80 or above

Inclusion Criteria for children with TD:

* 1) children aged between 6 and 12 years old;
* 2) had no developmental disorder or intellectual disability;
* 3) attended primary school.

Exclusion Criteria:

* NA

Primary outcomes:
measure: Eye gaze on the eye tracker
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks
measure: Eye gaze on the eye tracker
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks
measure: Eye gaze on the eye tracker
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Trail Making Test
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks
measure: Trail Making Test
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
Study officials:
References:
citation: Tang WYF, Fong KNK, Chung RCK. The Effects of Storytelling With or Without Social Contextual Information Regarding Eye Gaze and Visual Attention in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development: A Randomized, Controlled Eye-Tracking Study. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Mar;52(3):1257-1267. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05012-w. Epub 2021 Apr 28.