Clinical trial NCT04199533: Iterative Redesign of a Behavioral Skills Training Program for Use in Educational Settings
Official title: Iterative Redesign of a Behavioral Skills Training Program for Use in Educational Settings
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Disruptive Behavior
Lead sponsor: University of Washington
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
First posted: 2019-12-16
Enrollment: 40
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Elementary school personnel who work with students with autism spectrum disorder

Brief summary: This study proposes to redesign the RUBI Parent Training program, a low-intensity intervention for youth with autism spectrum disorder and disruptive behavior, for use by school personnel in the classroom. Using a mixed-methods approach, 40 school staff members from 20 elementary schools will be recruited to inform current classroom behavior management practices and RUBI redesign needs.

Detailed description: Approximately 50% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit disruptive behaviors such as tantrums, aggression, and noncompliance that significantly impact social, adaptive, and academic functioning. The RUBI program is an evidence-based parent-mediated intervention that improves disruptive behavior in children with ASD. Considering schools serve as the primary intervention setting for children with ASD, and teachers and school staff often struggle to address challenging behavior, there is an opportunity to meaningfully improve care by adapting RUBI for delivery in schools. To address these needs, the Discover, Design/Build, Test (DDBT) framework,which leverages user-centered design and implementation science, will be used to engage 40 end users from 20 elementary schools to inform current classroom behavior management practices and redesign needs for the RUBI curriculum to ensure that the modified curriculum (RUBI in Educational Settings; RUBIES) is useful and useable for school personnel who work with children with ASD. Specific aims include:

Aim 1: Identify the contextual constraints and end users (teachers, school psychologists, behavior technicians, classroom aides) relevant to the management of disruptive behavior in the classroom. Through in-class behavioral observations and interviews, Aim 1 will allow us to understand the values and priorities of the school context and end users directly involved with children with ASD (e.g. resources, work flow, policies).

Aim 2: Identify targets for RUBI redesign. Using in-depth intervention demonstration of RUBI paired with behavioral rehearsal, prospective think-aloud, and structured assessment methods, Aim 2 will allow us to determine which RUBI components should be retained, eliminated, or modified to address the needs of the context and end-users identified in Aim 1.

Aim 3: Iteratively adapt RUBI content and procedures based on identified targets for redesign and continual user testing to improve the hypothesized mechanisms of redesign (usability) and perceptual implementation outcomes (feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness). Aim 3 will allow us to determine the extent to which redesigned RUBI, or RUBIES, improves usability and implementation outcomes.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Elementary school (kindergarten through 5th grade) personnel (i.e. general and special education teachers, school psychologist, paraprofessionals)
* Works with at least one student with ASD for part of the day

Exclusion Criteria:

-School personnel who do not have contact with youth with ASD during the work day

Primary outcomes:
measure: Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM): 5-point scale
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBI Redesign meeting (Aim 1)
measure: Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM): 5-point scale
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBIES Redesign meeting (Aim 3)
measure: Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM): 5-point scale
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBI Redesign meeting (Aim 1)
measure: Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM): 5-point scale
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBIES Redesign meeting (Aim 3)
measure: Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM): 5-point scale
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBI Redesign meeting (Aim 1)
measure: Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM): 5-point scale
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBIES Redesign meeting (Aim 3)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Intervention Usability Scale (IUS)
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBI Redesign meeting (Aim 1)
measure: Intervention Usability Scale (IUS)
timeFrame: Completed by participants during the 4-hour RUBIES Redesign meeting (Aim 3)
Other outcomes:
measure: Teacher Demographics
timeFrame: Completed by participants at the in-class behavior observation, 4-hour RUBI Redesign meeting, 2 hour RUBIES Collaborative design meeting, or 4 hour RUBIES Redesign meeting
measure: School Demographics
timeFrame: Collected over the course of the 12 month study through public record review of schools where participants are employed
Locations:
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: Seattle Public Schools
state: Washington
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Washington
name: Karen Bearss, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: