"ACT" for Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Stress Clinical Trial

Official title:

Taking ACTion: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02255786
• Other study ID #: 2014P001563
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 2014
• Est. completion date: December 2016

Study information

• Verified date: August 2019
• Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The investigators will develop and pilot test an intervention called "ACT for Parents" which aims to decrease stress and improve quality of life in parents of children < 15 years who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. A small randomized trial testing phase will be conducted to gather initial data on the treatment feasibility and acceptability, detect treatment effects between groups (ACT for Parents versus Treatment as Usual), and to refine the treatment design for a future clinical trial.

Description:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an intervention that fosters acceptance of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions as a coping strategy, and encourages engagement in valued behavior in the presence of these emotions. ACT has been successfully applied to parents with similar mental health presentations. Using a randomized controlled study design, investigators seek to gather initial data on the treatment feasibility and acceptability, detect treatment effects in a cohort of parents who have a child (under the age of 15) with autism spectrum disorder.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 16
• Est. completion date: December 2016
• Est. primary completion date: December 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• A parent with a child (under the age of 15) with a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder-NOS, Asperger's Disorder or Autistic Disorder

• Child with ASD diagnosed by a mental health or medical professional

• Must be comfortable speaking and reading and understanding English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to attend sessions in person on the specified date/time/location of the intervention sessions

• unwillingness to be audio-taped should randomization into the experimental (ACT) group occur.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Stress

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an intervention that fosters acceptance of uncomfortable thoughts and emotions as a coping strategy, and encourages engagement in valued behavior in the presence of these emotions. ACT has been successfully applied to parents of children with a variety of mental health presentations.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Lurie Center | Massachusetts General Hospital	Lexington	Massachusetts

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Massachusetts General Hospital	Organization for Autism Research

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II Score	The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II, Bond et al., 2011) is a 10-item Likert scale that measures experiential acceptance (i.e., tendency to accept, rather than avoid, uncomfortable internal experiences) in adult samples.	From Basline to Month 2 (post-intervention) and from Month 2 to Month 3 (maintenance)