Mentorship Program for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Evaluation of a Mentorship Program for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

The purpose of this pilot project is to evaluate the feasibility of a mentorship program for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data will be collected from adolescents with ASD and their parents/guardians. Study findings will be used to inform further development of the mentoring program for individuals with ASD.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mentoring Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 13
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455
      • University of Minnesota

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Age 14-18
• Participants in the mentoring program.
• Participants must have fluent language and will speak and understand English.
• Participants must be able to commit to providing evaluation data.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have an intellectual disability (IQ under 70)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mentoring Program; The Autism Mentorship Program is a psychosocial intervention that pairs adults and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in one-to-one mentoring relationships. AMP involves weekly meetings in an afterschool setting and targets the socio-emotional health and social connectedness of adolescents and adults with ASD.	Behavioral: Mentoring Program; The Autism Mentorship Program is a psychosocial intervention that pairs adults and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in one-to-one mentoring relationships. AMP involves weekly meetings in an afterschool setting and targets the socio-emotional health and social connectedness of adolescents and adults with ASD.; Other Names: Autism Mentorship Program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Sessions Attended	Median count of completed session visits	within 30 days of the intervention end, up to 10 months
Participant Program Satisfaction Scores	Average program satisfaction score; range = 1-5; higher scores are better	within 30 days of the intervention end, up to 10 months
Mentoring Relationship Quality	Average quality of the mentoring relationship score; range = 1-5; higher scores are better	within 30 days of the intervention end, up to 10 months
Child Behavior Checklist Scores (Internalizing Subscale)	Parent-completed assessment of child's internalizing behavior; T scores for the internalizing subscale range 0-100 with higher scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Child Behavior Checklist Scores (Externalizing Subscale)	Parent-completed assessment of child's externalizing behavior; T scores for the externalizing subscale range 0-100 with higher scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Youth Self-Report Scores (Internalizing Subscale)	Youth self-reported assessment of internalizing behavior; T scores for the internalizing subscale range 0-100 with higher scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Youth Self-Report Scores (Externalizing Subscale)	Youth self-reported assessment of externalizing behavior; T scores for the externalizing subscale range 0-100 with higher scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Social Skills Improvement System Scores (Social Competence Scale; Parent-report)	Parent-completed assessment of child's social competence; Standard scores for the social competence subscale range 40-160 with lower scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Social Skills Improvement System Scores (Problem Behavior Scale; Parent-report)	Parent-completed assessment of child's problem behavior; Standard scores for the problem behavior subscale range 40-160 with higher scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Social Skills Improvement System Scores (Social Competence Scale; Youth-report)	Youth self-reported assessment of social competence; Standard scores for the social competence subscale range 40-160 with lower scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months
Social Skills Improvement System Scores (Problem Behavior Scale; Youth-report)	Youth self-reported assessment of problem behavior; Standard scores for the problem behavior subscale range 40-160 with higher scores being worse	at pre-intervention (within 30 days of intervention start) and post-intervention (within 30 days of intervention end), up to 10 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Minnesota
• Collaborators: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lindsey Weiler, PhD, University of Minnesota

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 31, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): May 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 18, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): March 29, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 21, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 20, 2022
• Last Verified: October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Disease; Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00003954

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No