Group therapy for anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

This pilot trial established that children and families were willing to be recruited and randomised, the outcome measures were acceptable, the format and content of the groups were feasible within UK child and adolescent mental health services, the intervention was appreciated by families and attrition was very small.

The design and implementation of a CBT-based intervention for sensory processing difficulties in adolescents on the autism spectrum

“…The high attendance rates and participant engagement within sessions also demonstrates it can be implemented successfully within the complexities of a mainstream secondary school. This finding of good acceptability to participants is consistent with that of other CBT-based interventions with children and adolescents with autism (e.g., Clarke et al, 2016;McConachie et al, 2014), providing further evidence for the suitability of this approach with young autistic people.…”

“…All interviews, sessions and materials were initially validated for use with typically developing adolescents. The overall intervention structure was based on typical elements of CBT interventions (Hofmann, 2011), while several features and activities within the sessions were adapted from existing CBT programmes for autistic individuals (Attwood, 2004;Chalfant et al, 2007;McConachie et al, 2014;Reaven et al, 2012;Sofronoff, et al 2005;Sung et al, 2011;Wood et al, 2009) and the self-reports of autistic sensory coping strategies Jones et al, 2003;Smith & Sharp, 2012).…”

“…Numerous RCTs have shown that such modified CBT programmes are effective in reducing anxiety in autistic children ranging in age from 8 -16 years, as evidenced by reports in interviews (Chalfant et al, 2007;McConachie et al, 2014;Reaven et al, 2012;Wood et al, 2009, Clarke et al 2016 and on parent and child questionnaires (Chalfant et al, 2007;McConachie et al, 2014;Sofronoff et al, 2005;Sung et al, 2011;Wood et al, 2009). …”

“…These guidelines also suggest modifications to standard CBT programmes to accommodate autistic young people's difficulties in, for example, establishing relationships with the therapist, complex language, taking turns in group situations and understanding emotions (Donoghue, Stallard & Kucia, 2011). In published CBT programmes, these modifications have included emotional education (McConachie et al, 2014;Sofronoff, Attwood & Hinton, 2005), parental involvement (Chalfant, Rapee & Carroll, 2007;Reaven, Blakeley-Smith, Culhane-Shelburne & Hepburn, 2012;Sofronoff, et al, 2005;Wood et al, 2009), visual materials and reward systems (Chalfant, et al 2007) and the teaching of friendship skills (Wood et al, 2009), relaxation exercises, emotional regulation and cognitive self-control (Sofronoff et al, 2005;Sung et al, 2011).…”

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Youth with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…1). The remaining 20 references were retrieved for further review, from which six more manuscripts were excluded because they were studies that included adults, Eight of the 14 studies were randomized controlled trials comparing CBT to a waitlist [18,22,24,27,28,[44][45][46]. Three of the 14 studies were randomized controlled trials [19,23,47].…”