Piloting the Competence in Romance and Understanding Sexual Health Curriculum (CRUSH)

April 21, 2026 updated by: Susan Faja, Boston Children's Hospital

A Pilot Investigation of the Competence in Romance and Understanding Sexual Health Curriculum

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether the CRUSH curriculum is possible (feasible), whether it fits the needs of the adults it is designed for (acceptable), and shows initial signs of being helpful (efficacious). CRUSH is a group-based behavioral intervention plus 1-1 coaching designed to provide sexual education and improve the skills of autistic adults for intimate relationships.

The main goals of the project are to:

  • Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the CRUSH curriculum in the context of a clinical trial with a waitlist control condition.
  • Initial exploration of how the CRUSH curriculum works and whether it is helpful.

Participants will complete:

  • A screening call.
  • Confirmation of clinical characteristics (autism features, language ability, cognitive ability).
  • 3 visits to assess knowledge and behaviors related to dating and sexual health at each point throughout the training curriculum (before beginning, midway, and after finishing).
  • 20 sessions of the CRUSH curriculum plus 1-1 coaching sessions. After each session, provide feedback about the session.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

There are currently no evidence-based interventions to improve the dating and sexual health of autistic adults. The CRUSH (Competence in Romance and Understanding Sexual Health) Curriculum was designed to address this critical gap, which was piloted with a small group of participants. This study is a pilot program of the CRUSH curriculum for 40 participants to acquire initial feasibility and acceptability data. It will also test the feasibility and acceptability of the measurement battery for potential inclusion in future clinical trials. The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether the CRUSH curriculum is possible (feasible), whether it fits the needs of the adults it is designed for (acceptable), how it works (mechanism), and shows initial signs of being helpful (efficacious). CRUSH is a group-based behavioral intervention plus 1-1 coaching designed to provide sexual education and improve the skills of autistic adults for intimate relationships.

The main goals of the project are to:

  • Evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the CRUSH curriculum in the context of a clinical trial with a waitlist control condition.
  • Initial exploration of how the CRUSH curriculum works and whether it is helpful.

Participants will complete:

  • A screening call.
  • Confirmation of clinical characteristics (autism features, language ability, cognitive ability).
  • 3 visits to assess knowledge and behaviors related to dating and sexual health at each point throughout the training curriculum (before beginning, midway, and after finishing).
  • 20 sessions of the CRUSH curriculum plus 1-1 coaching sessions. After each session, provide feedback about the session.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

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 Contact

Study Locations

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18;0 to 30;11 years old;
  • Either documentation of a prior diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or receipt of services based on an autism spectrum diagnosis OR self identification as being autistic / on the autism spectrum and meeting the clinical cut-off on either the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule or the Autism Spectrum Quotient;
  • Ability to provide consent for the protocol and understand task demands. The Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition (WASI-2) may be used to confirm cognitive level. In prior work, adults with full scale IQ of 70 or above on the WASI-2 typically meet this criterion, but a licensed clinician will review individuals who fall below an IQ of 70 on an individual basis to determine eligibility;
  • Fluent in English.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-English-speaking participants (less than 50% of speech in English);
  • Known genetic etiology of ASD (e.g., Fragile X);
  • Major mental illness (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis);
  • Medical conditions that impact sexual function (e.g., pituitary tumor);
  • Significant sensory, motor, or physical conditions that would prevent valid participation in assessments or intervention;
  • Live more than 50 miles from the site in Brookline, MA where intervention and assessment sessions will be offered.
  • Receipt of other sexual health/dating curricula as an adult.

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: CRUSH Intervention
Participants will receive the CRUSH Curriculum
Behavioral: Competence in Romance and Understanding Sexual Health (CRUSH)
Manualized curriculum targeting sexual health and behavior in intimate relationships designed to meet the specific needs of autistic adults
No Intervention: Waitlist
Will be invited to receive the CRUSH intervention at the end of the study period

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability Rating Scale
Time Frame: Within one day of each intervention session and at the Baseline, Midpoint (10 weeks), and Post-intervention visit (20 weeks)
This is the primary acceptability outcome. Likert ratings with a 5-pt scale
Within one day of each intervention session and at the Baseline, Midpoint (10 weeks), and Post-intervention visit (20 weeks)
Sexual Vocabulary Test - Pragmatics Total Score
Time Frame: At the Baseline, Midpoint (10-weeks), and Post-intervention (20-weeks) visits
This is the primary measure of target engagement. A measure of the ability to provide definitions of sexual health terms to be used as a measure of target engagement - the primary dependent variable measures pragmatic language (e.g., slang) when discussing sexual health terms. Accuracy (knowledge of sexual health terms) is also collected as a secondary variable.
At the Baseline, Midpoint (10-weeks), and Post-intervention (20-weeks) visits
Psychosexual Knowledge Test
Time Frame: At the Baseline, Midpoint (10-weeks), and Post-intervention (20-weeks) visits
This is the primary clinical outcome measure and assesses changes in the information participants have. This task was adapted for the first RCT of a sexual health curriculum developed for autistic adolescents to assess changes in information. It includes 35 multiple choice and 2 open-ended items that are scored as correct or incorrect.
At the Baseline, Midpoint (10-weeks), and Post-intervention (20-weeks) visits

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility Assessment
Time Frame: Within one day of each intervention session and at the Baseline, Midpoint (10 weeks), and Post-intervention visit (20 weeks)
Attrition rates; Missing data rates for assessment instruments
Within one day of each intervention session and at the Baseline, Midpoint (10 weeks), and Post-intervention visit (20 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Boston Children's Hospital

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 (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 29, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 5, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 21, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • FP01037275
  • 2009 (Organization for Autism Research)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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