Virtual interview training for autistic transition age youth: A randomized controlled feasibility and effectiveness trial

Abstract

Autistic transition age youth struggle with obtaining employment, and interviewing is a critical barrier to getting a job. We adapted an efficacious virtual reality job interview intervention to meet the needs of autistic transition age youth, called the Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth. This study evaluated whether Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth can be feasibly delivered in high school special education settings and whether Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth improves job interview skills, job interview self-efficacy, job interview anxiety, and access to employment. Forty-eight autistic transition age youth received school-based pre-employment services as usual with Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth, while 23 autistic transition age youth received services as usual only. Local teachers trained and supervised autistic transition age youth using Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth. Participants reported Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth was highly acceptable. Participants receiving services as usual and Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth, compared to participants receiving services as usual only, had better job interview skills and lower job interview anxiety as well as greater access to jobs. Overall, Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth appears to be effective at teaching job interview skills that are associated with accessing competitive jobs. Moreover, youth enjoyed Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth and teachers feasibly implemented the tool within special education pre-employment transition services. Future research needs to better understand how autistic transition age youth from culturally diverse backgrounds and different social, behavioral, or mental health challenges may respond to Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth. Lay abstract Autistic transition age youth struggle with obtaining employment, and interviewing is a critical barrier to getting a job. We adapted an efficacious virtual reality job interview intervention to meet the needs of autistic transition age youth, called the Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth. This study evaluated whether Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth can be feasibly delivered in high school special education settings and whether Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth improves job interview skills, job interview self-efficacy, job interview anxiety, and access to employment. Forty-eight autistic transition age youth received school-based pre-employment services as usual with Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth, while 23 autistic transition age youth received services as usual only. Local teachers trained and supervised autistic transition age youth using Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth. Participants reported Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth was highly acceptable. Participants receiving services as usual and Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth, compared to participants receiving services as usual only, had better job interview skills and lower job interview anxiety as well as greater access to jobs. Overall, Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth appears to be effective at teaching job interview skills that are associated with accessing competitive jobs. Moreover, youth enjoyed Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth and teachers feasibly implemented the tool within special education pre-employment transition services. Future research needs to better understand how autistic transition age youth from culturally diverse backgrounds and different social, behavioral, or mental health challenges may respond to Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth.

A Scoping Review of Technology-Based Vocational Interventions for Individuals with Autism

“…Seventeen studies were conducted within K-12 school settings (e.g., mailrooms of school buildings in Seaman et al, 2018; faculty conference room in the participants' high school in Van Laarhoven et al, 2018). Seven studies were conducted in research settings (e.g., Kumazaki et al, 2017Kumazaki et al, , 2019Smith et al, 2021). The remaining four studies took place at multiple sites (both K-12 schools and worksites in Van Laarhoven et al, 2012) and in community program settings (Goh & Bambara, 2013).…”

“…Fifteen variables measured changes in participants' targeted behavior or attitudes either by third-party rating (e.g., Interview Skills Rating Instrument; Strickland et al, 2013) or by self-report (e.g., self-report of self-confidence; Smith et al, 2014). Three variables measured levels of support provided (e.g., Support Intensity scale and job coaching hours; Gentry et al, 2015); two variables utilized the salivary cortisol levels to evaluate physiological stress responses to interview situations (Kumazaki et al, 2017(Kumazaki et al, , 2019; one variable examined whether participants obtained an employment position (Smith et al, 2021); and one study measured whether the monthly hours worked increased with intervention (Gentry et al, 2015). Of these 23 variables, nine variables were proximal and 14 were distal; six variables were contextbound and 17 were generalized.…”

“…Besides outcome variables from Goh and Bambara (2013), no other outcome variables from SSRD studies were assessed by raters naive to treatment conditions. Among the nine group design studies, outcome variables from four studies were rated by assessors naive to the treatment conditions (Burke et al, 2018;Kumazaki et al, 2019;Smith et al, 2014;Strickland et al, 2013). Among the 130 variables from SSRDs, 106 (81.5%) studies included the means and/or ranges for the interobserver reliability.…”

“…Interview skills. Eight studies targeted interview skills by allowing individuals to complete simulated interviews with a robot (n = 2; Kumazaki et al, 2017Kumazaki et al, , 2019; or VR character (n = 5; Burke et al, 2018;Smith et al, 2014Smith et al, , 2021Strickland et al, 2013;Ward & Esposito, 2018); or by self-recording a video of a practice interview using a phone camera (n = 1; Hayes et al, 2015). All studies except for Burke et al (2018) and Ward and Esposito (2018) utilized an RCT methodology.…”

“…Several studies have shown that these interventions substantially improved participants' interview skills (Burke et al, 2018;Hayes et al, 2015;Kumazaki et al, 2019;Smith et al, 2014Smith et al, , 2021Strickland et al, 2013;Ward & Esposito, 2018) and self-confidence (Kumazaki et al, 2019;Ward & Esposito, 2018), as well as reduced levels of anxiety (Smith et al, 2021) and cortisol (Kumazaki et al, 2017(Kumazaki et al, , 2019. For example, participants who completed mock interviews with robots reported higher self-confidence and exhibited reduced salivary cortisol levels compared with the control groups (Kumazaki et al, 2017(Kumazaki et al, , 2019.…”