A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) Program for ASD
Abstract
Rationale and Objectives: As the population of young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continues to rise, the scientific community is tasked with identifying methods to promote positive outcomes. For many years, the majority of treatment development efforts for ASD focused on the early preschool years, and it has now become apparent that we lack sufficient resources to support adolescents and young adults. Treatments that bridge adolescence through early adulthood are particularly needed to prevent the developmental plateau, and often deterioration, attributed to the service “cliff” and lack of effective treatments during this period for the 50%-60% of those with ASD who do not have co-occurring intellectual disability. Individuals with ASD, parents, and teachers uniformly consider difficulty effectively managing emotions, referred to as emotion regulation, as a primary barrier to success during the transition to adulthood. There is now ample evidence that emotion regulation is impaired in ASD and leads to a range of problems, including depression, anxiety, meltdowns, and aggression, which exacerbate social problems and substantially impede the capacity to learn and function across all life settings (school, work, and community activities). These problems also reduce quality of life and increase family stress. To address this need, we developed a psychosocial treatment to support emotion regulation capacity in adolescents and young adults with ASD without intellectual disability, called the Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) Program. Areas of Interest: Our aims are consistent with several Fiscal Year 2017 Autism Research Program areas of interest; specifically, EASE: (1) is a behavioral, non-pharmacological therapy that (2) alleviates co-occurring conditions (e.g., depression, aggression, anxiety), and (3) promotes success during the transition to adulthood. Applicability: EASE is a 16-week individual therapy program for verbal adolescents and young adults with ASD without intellectual disability, designed to improve emotion regulation capacity. EASE emphasizes awareness of one’s own emotional responses as a foundational skill that promotes the ability to manage intense negative emotions, which is taught through mindful awareness. Mindfulness is an approach that cultivates increased awareness of internal reactions and expectations with an open and accepting attitude through the use of meditative practices and activities. Once emotional self-awareness is improved, the therapist works with the client to build his/her tolerance for distress through different strategies for emotion management. Target Population: EASE was developed for verbally and cognitively able adolescents and young adults with ASD who struggle with managing intense negative emotion. Potential Applications, Benefits, and Risks: The primary objective of this study is to formally evaluate EASE via a sufficiently large, two-site, rigorous test that involves randomly assigning 80 14-21-year-olds with ASD without intellectual disability to either receive EASE or a supportive therapy condition that involves the same amount of time with the therapist without the primary approaches used in EASE. We will also evaluate how well changes are maintained 3 months after treatment is completed. This project, and in particular the use of a comparison treatment group, will allow us to demonstrate that improvements are due to EASE rather than unrelated factors that coincide with a youth’s time in the intervention or parental or youth expectations of change. This level of evidence is necessary to enable potential insurance reimbursement for the program, therefore making this step critical for eventual dissemination outside of the academic environment. If found to be effective, it is conceivable that many young people with ASD and their families will benefit. Risks are minimal, with the primary risk involving time spent engaged
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 29, 2018
- Source ID
- W81XWH1810284
Entities
People
- Carla A Mazefsky
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Pittsburgh