OPT-IN: Online Parent Training Intervention for Young Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Summary

The goal of this observer-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial is to determine the effectiveness of a fully-online, parent-mediated, video-based, self-directed intervention for young children with autism (12-60 months) who have been diagnosed with autism in the last six months. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are:

1. Does an online intervention for autistic children result in improved adaptive behaviour, compared to a psychoeducational control group?
2. Does an online intervention for autistic children result in reduced autism symptoms in children, and decreased stress and increased self-efficacy in parents, compared to a psychoeducational control group?
3. What are the predictors of response to intervention (i.e., child sex and age; initial autism symptoms and adaptive behavior; and parent self-efficacy, stress, and education).

Parents will be given six compulsory and eight optional online modules that will teach them skills to use while interacting with their autistic children to improve social and communication behaviours and minimize behaviours that interfere with learning.

The comparison group will receive six compulsory and eight optional online modules that will teach them about autism more broadly including diagnostic criteria, symptom profiles across development, etc.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

OPT-IN

Parents will be provided with online access to 6 compulsory video-based modules and 8 optional video-based modules. These modules will teach them about child development, behavioural principles, and naturalistic developmental intervention principles. These modules will promote skills that parents can use to increase their child's social and communication behaviours and minimize behaviours that interfere with learning (e.g., temper tantrums).

OTHER

Psychoeducational control

This control intervention will provide parents with 6 compulsory and 8 optional modules that will teach them about autism and its developmental course.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• McMaster Children's Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

  collaborator OTHER

• Child and Community Resources

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Elizabeth Kelley

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Months

Max Age

60 Months

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-06-30

Primary Completion

2028-03-31

Completion

2028-03-31