A Study of the Elopement Prevention and Safety Training Program

NCT02383732 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 24

Last updated 2017-03-30

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of the Elopement Prevention Safety (EPST) program in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have engaged in eloping. This is a program created by the Behavior Treatment Clinics to help caregivers come up with a safety plan to prevent their children from running away or wandering off.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Universal Safety Measures Module (All participants)

During the first session, the therapist conducts a home safety evaluation. During the second visit the therapist provides the caregiver with an individualized Elopement Prevention \& Safety Plan (EPSP) based upon the results of the evaluation. The remainder of the session is spent helping caregivers make plans to implement the EPSP to reduce the risk of elopement or lessen the risk of harm to the child if they do successfully elope.

BEHAVIORAL

Proximity Training Module (Bolting Prevention Participants)

During the first session a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) of bolting is conducted to identify the motivator(s) that evoke bolting. Caregivers identify a setting that is most problematic because it contains the item/activity that most frequently serves as a motivator for elopement. In the next session, caregivers are taught to identify effective alternative reinforcers. In subsequent sessions, antecedent and consequence based strategies are employed to reduce motivation for elopement and reinforce remaining within the designated proximity of a caregiver for increasing durations.

BEHAVIORAL

Check-In Training Module (Wandering Prevention Participants)

This module employs behavioral strategies to teach a child to check in with a caregiver at frequent fixed intervals during periods of low supervision. Delivering potent reinforcement for checking in counteracts any motivation to wander. Furthermore, if the child does wander caregivers become aware of it immediately because they failed to check in. During the first session caregivers are taught to identify effective reinforcers. A vibrating alarm that can be carried in a participating child's pocket serves as a prompt to seek out a caregiver and check-in. Participants receive access to a previously identified and individualized reinforcer for checking-in with the caregiver.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Emory University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Nathan Call, PhD · Emory University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
4 Years
Max Age
12 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2015-02-28
Primary Completion
2017-01-31
Completion
2017-01-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02383732 on ClinicalTrials.gov