Cognitive Enhancement Therapy for Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder

Summary

This study will investigate and contrast the effects of two psychological treatments for adults with autism spectrum disorder. Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET) is a cognitive remediation intervention that aims to help adults with problems in thinking, planning, and socialization. Enriched Supportive Therapy (EST) is an individual supportive therapy that aims to help adults learn about their condition, manage their emotions and stress, improve their social skills, and cope with everyday problems.

Conditions

• Autistic Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Asperger's Syndrome
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Cognitive Enhancement Therapy

An 18-month comprehensive, small group approach for the remediation of cognitive deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders consisting of individual sessions and 45 group training sessions in social cognition that are integrated with approximately 60 hours of computer assisted training in attention, memory, and problem solving skills.

BEHAVIORAL

Enriched Supportive Therapy

An 18-month intervention that uses individual supportive therapy to help adults learn about autism spectrum disorder, manage their emotions and stress, improve their social skills, and cope with everyday problems. Participants will learn about the impact of stress on their lives, and how to identify their own early cues of distress and apply effective coping strategies.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• Autism Speaks

  collaborator OTHER

• United States Department of Defense

  collaborator FED

• Pennsylvania Department of Health

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• University of Pittsburgh

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Shaun M. Eack, PhD · University of Pittsburgh

• Nancy J. Minshew, MD · University of Pittsburgh

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

16 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-08-31

Primary Completion

2016-04-30

Completion

2017-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations