Clinical trial NCT03020927: Therapist and Parent Delivered Reciprocal Imitation Training for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: SUSPENDED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Lead sponsor: Ohio State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2017-01-13
Enrollment: 30
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 24
Maximum age (years): 60
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to examine whether adding a parent education component to an existing intervention (Reciprocal Imitation Training) results in improved outcomes for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT) is a behavioral intervention designed to improve spontaneous imitation skills in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Previous research suggests that it can be effective when used by trained therapists, teachers, siblings, and parents of children with ASD. However, it is unclear to what extent training parents to use RIT strategies in the home environment may enhance outcomes, compared to having therapists implement RIT individually with the child. The study will compare two different versions of RIT for young children with ASD: (1) two 60-minute weekly sessions of therapist-implemented RIT and (2) one weekly 60-minute session of therapist-implemented RIT and one weekly 60-minute session of parent education about using RIT in the home environment. The investigators will examine child and family outcomes between these two intervention types. Outcomes examined will include: (1) spontaneous and prompted imitation skills in the child with ASD, (2) social communication skills in the child with ASD, (3) parent stress, and (4) parent and child behaviors during parent-child play interactions.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* have a community diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (as reported by parent)
* meet cutoff for "Autism" or "Autism Spectrum" on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition
* be between 24 and 60 months of age at the time of study enrollment
* demonstrate difficulties with imitation skills on the Motor Imitation Scales and/or the Unstructured Imitation Assessment during pre-treatment assessments

Exclusion Criteria:

* Participants must not be the sibling of another study participant

Primary outcomes:
measure: Unstructured Imitation Assessment (UIA)
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
measure: Percentage of parent acts imitated during Parent-Child Play Interaction
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Parenting Stress Index, 4th Edition
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
measure: Motor Imitation Scales
timeFrame: 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention), 3 months post-treatment, 6 months post-treatment
measure: Early Social Communication Scales
timeFrame: 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention), 3 months post-treatment, 6 months post-treatment
measure: Proportion of time spent jointly engaged during Parent-Child Play Interaction
timeFrame: Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Other outcomes:
measure: Modified Behavior Intervention Rating Scale
timeFrame: 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Locations:
city: Columbus
country: United States
facility: The Ohio State University
state: Ohio
Study officials:
References: