Clinical trial NCT05977075: Group Intervention on Executive Function in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Official title: Training "Unstuck and On Target! Second Edition" Versus Training "ApisMela"
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism
Keywords: autism
children
executive functions
Lead sponsor: Istituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione Biomedica
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Fondazione di Comunità di Messina onlus
First posted: 2023-08-04
Enrollment: 12
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 7
Maximum age (years): 13
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social communication, repetitive behaviors, and social interaction. A key aspect of autism concerns executive functions, which are a set of cognitive processes that regulate attention, planning, inhibition, and impulse control. These functions are often impaired in children with autism, affecting their learning and daily functioning.

The present protocol aims to test the first absolute and then comparative effectiveness of two executive function development programs: the "APISMELA" training and the "UNSTUCK \& ON TARGET! SECOND EDITION". Two groups will be held at the same time and will conduct the two programs in reverse order. In fact, the protocol is divided into two phases.

Participants subjected to the APISMELA group, finished the intervention sessions will conduct an interim evaluation and then begin the intervention phases of the UNSTUCK \& ON TARGET! SECOND EDITION protocol.

Participants subjected to the UNSTUCK \& ON TARGET! SECOND EDITION group, finished the intervention sessions will conduct an interim evaluation and then begin the intervention phases of the APISMELA protocol.

Group intervention programs were chosen for two reasons: group intervention compared with individual intervention have lower costs for patients and their families and thus higher overall social acceptability. The second is that group intervention within the social-constructivist paradigm, to which the two chosen programs belong, becomes a fundamental resource for stimulating that augmentative learning that is a source of development on the cognitive and conceptual levels for human beings.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Children with diagnosis of autism and autism spectrum disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of other medical disorders

Primary outcomes:
measure: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth edition (WISC-IV)
timeFrame: The evaluation session will be scheduled pre-intervention (T0). The test needs approximately 65-80 minutes to complete.
measure: Changes in NEuroPSYcology second edition (NEPSY-II) evaluations
timeFrame: The tests will be scheduled pre intervention (T0), at 6 months (T1) and at the study conclusion,about 1 year (T2).The T1 and T2 evaluations were conducted to determine whether the protocols carried out made a change.The test needs about 120-180 minutes.
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Messina
country: Italy
facility: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB) - National Research Council (CNR)
Study officials:
affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IRIB) - National Research Council (CNR)
name: Flavia Marino
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Nydén, A., Gillberg, C., Hjelmquist, E., & Heiman, M. (1999). Executive function/attention deficits in boys with Asperger syndrome, attention disorder and reading/writing disorder. Autism, 3(3), 213-228.
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citation: American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.; American Psychiatric Publishing: Washington, DC, USA, 2013.
citation: Wilson TD, Reinhard DA, Westgate EC, Gilbert DT, Ellerbeck N, Hahn C, Brown CL, Shaked A. Social psychology. Just think: the challenges of the disengaged mind. Science. 2014 Jul 4;345(6192):75-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1250830.
citation: Kenworthy L, Anthony LG, Naiman DQ, Cannon L, Wills MC, Luong-Tran C, Werner MA, Alexander KC, Strang J, Bal E, Sokoloff JL, Wallace GL. Randomized controlled effectiveness trial of executive function intervention for children on the autism spectrum. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2014 Apr;55(4):374-83. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12161. Epub 2013 Nov 21.
citation: Orsolini, Margherita & Melogno, Sergio & Santese, Angela & Toma, Chiara & Latini, Nausica & Salomone, Samantha & Andreagiovanni, Jacopo. (2019). "Pensando si Impara" STIMOLARE L'ATTENZIONE, LE FUNZIONI ESECUTIVE E LA MEMORIA DI LAVORO NEI BAMBINI CON BISOGNI EDUCATIVI SPECIALI.
citation: Dickson KS, Aarons GA, Anthony LG, Kenworthy L, Crandal BR, Williams K, Brookman-Frazee L. Adaption and pilot implementation of an autism executive functioning intervention in children's mental health services: a mixed-methods study protocol. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2020 Apr 27;6:55. doi: 10.1186/s40814-020-00593-2. eCollection 2020.
citation: Cannon J, O'Brien AM, Bungert L, Sinha P. Prediction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence. Autism Res. 2021 Apr;14(4):604-630. doi: 10.1002/aur.2482. Epub 2021 Feb 11.