Relationship Training for Children With Autism and Their Peers

February 8, 2022 updated by: Connie Kasari, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Peer Related School Interventions in Autism

This study will determine whether peer interaction training interventions are effective in enhancing the social relationships of children with autism.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Children with autism often have poor relationships with other children during their childhood and through their adult lives. A number of peer-related intervention models have been developed, but these models have not been thoroughly reviewed or implemented within the school setting. This study will examine the social inclusion of children with autism, following different peer-related interventions training children with autism and their peers.

Children will be randomly assigned to one of four interventions that comprise all autistic children, all nonautistic children, or a mixed group of both. The first intervention focuses on improving the social skills of autistic children. The second intervention involves educating the peers of autistic children to increase their acceptance of their autistic peers. The third intervention is a combination of the first two interventions. Children assigned to the fourth intervention will receive the usual training offered in their local school districts. Training for each group will be conducted twice a week for 6 weeks.

Characteristics of the autistic child will be assessed through an interview that evaluates intelligence quotient (IQ), language skills, and social interaction. Teachers will be asked to complete a questionnaire describing the autistic child and his or her interaction with peers. The autistic children will complete a friendship survey, clinical global impressions scales, and a battery of neuropsychiatric tests. All assessments will be conducted at study start and again at study completion.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
        • University of California, Los Angeles

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 11 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria for Autistic and Nonautistic Participants:

  • Autistic OR nonautistic peer of autistic child
  • Full inclusion in a classroom with nonautistic children
  • Currently in kindergarten or grades 1 through 5
  • Intelligence quotient higher than 70
  • Expectation to stay in the same school and classroom for the duration of the study
  • Able to provide parent consent and child assent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Mental age-equivalent less than 4 years
  • Conditions other than autism, or sensory or motor impairments

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
Participants with autism will receive social skills training targeting children with autism
Behavioral: Social skills training targeting children with autism
Sessions will focus on improving the social skills of autistic children. Thirty-minute sessions will be held twice a week for 6 weeks.
Experimental: 2
Participants without autism will receive social skills training to increase acceptance of peers with autism
Behavioral: Social skills training of peers without autism
Sessions will involve educating the peers of autistic children to increase their acceptance of their autistic peers. Thirty-minute sessions will be held twice a week for 6 weeks.
Experimental: 3
Participants with and without autism will receive a combination treatment of social skills/education about autism
Behavioral: Combination treatment of social skills/education about autism
The combination treatment includes children with and without autism. Sessions will involve social skills training and education about autism to increase acceptance of autistic peers. Training will be conducted twice a week for 6 weeks
Active Comparator: 4
Participants with and without autism will receive usual training provided by their school district
Behavioral: Usual training
Participants will receive the usual training offered in their local school districts.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Social network involvement of autistic children
Time Frame: Measured before and after treatment and at 3-month follow-up
Measured before and after treatment and at 3-month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marian Sigman, University of California, Los Angeles

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 4, 2004

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 4, 2004

First Posted (Estimate)

November 5, 2004

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 25, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 8, 2022

Last Verified

February 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • U54MH068172 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • DDTR BD-DD

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Study Data/Documents

  1. Clinical Study Report
  2. Clinical Study Report
  3. Clinical Study Report
  4. Clinical Study Report

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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