Comparative Effectiveness of EIBI and Adaptive ABA for Children with Autism

Abstract

Approximately 15,000 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in military families currently receive applied behavior analysis (ABA) interventions through TRICARE insurance. This includes early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), which involves 20 or more hours per week of individualized instruction based on ABA and is often considered the standard of care for toddlers and preschoolers with ASD. Research indicates that EIBI accelerates development of cognitive and adaptive skills in many children with ASD. However, the evidence base has important gaps, notably a dearth of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), limited data on whether EIBI reduces ASD symptoms, and few studies on outcomes of EIBI in community settings such as private agencies where most children with ASD receive services. In addition, EIBI is expensive and requires a substantial commitment of time and effort from children and families. More recently, research has found that less intensive, time limited ABA interventions can effectively target specific core and associated features of ASD. With these latest data, we assert that an individualized approach to adapting and combining targeted interventions could be at least as effective as EIBI, yet substantially reduce expenditures of time and resources. We call this approach adaptive, modular ABA (AMx2;ABA).Objectives/Hypotheses: We will compare EIBI as usual, provided for approximately 20 hours per week, and AM-ABA, provided for up to 10 hours per week, in a 24-week RCT of 130 children with ASD, under age 5 years, in military families. We hypothesize that, at the end of intervention, AM-ABA will be no less effective than EIBI as usual, or only slightly so, on the primary outcome measure (a standardized measure of adaptive skills).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2020
Accession Number
AD1129283

Entities

People

  • Cynthia R. Johnson
  • Susan Hyman

Organizations

  • University of Rochester

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Autism
  • Biomedical Research
  • Children
  • Costs
  • Covid-19
  • Data Management
  • Department Of Defense
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Education
  • Electronic Mail
  • Families (Human)
  • Health Services
  • Information Science
  • Military Families
  • Personnel Management
  • Quality Control
  • Regression Analysis
  • Reliability
  • Schools
  • Standards
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Supervision
  • Technicians
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Therapy
  • Time Intervals
  • Training
  • Universities

Readers

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  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.