Multicomponent Behavioral Intervention Designed to Increase Functional Independence During Aging in ASD
Abstract
Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Developing and maintaining functional independence in adults with ASD across their life span is essential to improve quality of life (QoL) and reduce the estimated lifetime cost of >$1 million per individual with autism. This pilot project will evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-faceted behavioral intervention that targets social communication, cognition, and mood regulation in one intervention for improving independence and QoL in adults with ASD across the life span. This objective is in alignment with the Fiscal Year 2019 Autism Research Program Clinical Translational Research Award Area of Interests, “Behavioral, cognitive, and other nonpharmacological therapies,” and to a lesser extent, “Interventions promoting success in key transitions to adulthood for individuals living with ASD.” We will tailor the interventions to the specific needs of the individuals with ASD, for whom specific weakness are variable, allowing a personalized approach to our intervention. We will use the principles of learning theory to encourage habituation of compensatory behaviors in adults with ASD across the adult life span. Our innovative interventional design includes a companion website integrated into the training sessions that promises to improve the sustainability of the compensatory behaviors over time. Impact on the Field of ASD Research: The heterogeneity of symptom expression among individuals with ASD makes it difficult to develop standardized, cost-efficient treatments. In spite of this, many current treatments and behavior training programs address those with ASD as a homogenous group, rather than individuals with heterogeneous symptoms and needs. Our experience with adults with ASD extends across a wide age range, which informs our interest in providing a flexible intervention to establish compensatory behavioral habits that will improve the QoL of life and functional outcome for adults with ASD across the life span. Our intervention emphasizes short-term positive cognitive compensation and habit formation outcomes. We aim to improve long-term outcomes through maintenance of gains in functionality by including guided training with a website that will be available to the participants after the intervention ends. This personalized approach will be performed in a group setting and will be implemented by trained, nonprofessional staff. This will create a cost-effective intervention that will be accessible to communities that lack highly specialized professionals. By aiming at compensatory habituation of positive behaviors, our PEERS-plus intervention has promise to improve and maintain functional independence and QoL in adults with ASD throughout their life span. Translation of Results: The results of this pilot project will determine several critical factors that will be used to design a full-scale, multi-site, randomized controlled trial study (RCT), including feasibility factors (recruitment, randomization strategies, rates of and barriers to retention, and assessment procedures); treatment adherence; treatment fidelity; meaningful primary outcome measures of functional independence; and QoL for both the participants with ASD and the support companions. Outcomes of the proposed research will maximize the probability that a future full-scale, multi-site RCT will be successful and improve our ability to test the efficacy of our novel intervention.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2010171
Entities
People
- Nicole L Matthews
Organizations
- Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center
- United States Army