Therapist and Parent Delivered Reciprocal Imitation Training for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Trial

— ParentRIT  

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Suspended

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03020927
• Other study ID #: 2015B0475
• Status: Suspended
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 2016
• Est. completion date: December 2023

Study information

• Verified date: November 2022
• Source: Ohio State University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to examine whether adding a parent education component to an existing intervention (Reciprocal Imitation Training) results in improved outcomes for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT) is a behavioral intervention designed to improve spontaneous imitation skills in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Previous research suggests that it can be effective when used by trained therapists, teachers, siblings, and parents of children with ASD. However, it is unclear to what extent training parents to use RIT strategies in the home environment may enhance outcomes, compared to having therapists implement RIT individually with the child. The study will compare two different versions of RIT for young children with ASD: (1) two 60-minute weekly sessions of therapist-implemented RIT and (2) one weekly 60-minute session of therapist-implemented RIT and one weekly 60-minute session of parent education about using RIT in the home environment. The investigators will examine child and family outcomes between these two intervention types. Outcomes examined will include: (1) spontaneous and prompted imitation skills in the child with ASD, (2) social communication skills in the child with ASD, (3) parent stress, and (4) parent and child behaviors during parent-child play interactions.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Suspended
• Enrollment: 30
• Est. completion date: December 2023
• Est. primary completion date: December 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 24 Months to 60 Months

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• have a community diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (as reported by parent)
• meet cutoff for "Autism" or "Autism Spectrum" on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition
• be between 24 and 60 months of age at the time of study enrollment
• demonstrate difficulties with imitation skills on the Motor Imitation Scales and/or the Unstructured Imitation Assessment during pre-treatment assessments

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants must not be the sibling of another study participant

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Reciprocal Imitation Training (Therapist-Delivered)
Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention aimed at improving social imitation skills.
• Reciprocal Imitation Training (Therapist + Parent Delivered)
Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention aimed at improving social imitation skills, using a combination of therapist-delivered intervention and parent training to deliver intervention in the home setting.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	The Ohio State University	Columbus	Ohio

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Ohio State University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Modified Behavior Intervention Rating Scale		10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Primary	Unstructured Imitation Assessment (UIA)	The Unstructured Imitation Assessment (UIA) is a semi-structured, standardized test of imitation skills containing 10 object imitation and 10 gesture imitation tasks (Ingersoll & Meyer, 2011).	Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Primary	Percentage of parent acts imitated during Parent-Child Play Interaction	Percentage of parent play acts and meaningful gestures imitated by the child during a 10-minute unstructured play interaction with parent	Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Secondary	Parenting Stress Index, 4th Edition		Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)
Secondary	Motor Imitation Scales		10 weeks (immediately post-intervention), 3 months post-treatment, 6 months post-treatment
Secondary	Early Social Communication Scales		10 weeks (immediately post-intervention), 3 months post-treatment, 6 months post-treatment
Secondary	Proportion of time spent jointly engaged during Parent-Child Play Interaction	Proportion of time spent in joint engagement state (joint focus on same activity) during a 10-minute unstructured play interaction with parent	Change from baseline to 10 weeks (immediately post-intervention)