| ASA's 36th National Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders (July 13-16, 2005) |
ASA Homepage |
| Saturday, July 16, 2005: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM | |||
| 209 | |||
| #1430- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Symptoms in Children with High-Functioning ASD | |||
| This presentation will outline a pilot intervention project aimed towards reducing the severity and impact of anxiety symptoms in 8 children with high-functioning ASD and their families. Pre- and post-treatment assessments were conducted and preliminary findings will be shared, along with a video sampling of the group sessions. | |||
| Presenters: | - Dr. Reaven is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and is the Director of the Autism and Developmental Disorders Clinic of JFK Partners. Clinical and research interests include the co-occurrence of anxiety symptoms and other mental health conditions in children and adolescents with ASD.
- Dr. Hepburn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and is the Director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research Group. She is currently conducting several studies of development and behavior of children with autism and other developmental disorders. - Shana Nichols is a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research Group at UCHSC and the Autism and Developmental Disorders Clinic at JFK Partners. She is currently developing a research program and clinical services in the area of sexuality and autism spectrum disorders. - Dr. Dasari is a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Child Study Center in the NYU School of Medicine. She is currently specializing in the treatment of Anxiety Disorders in children and adolescents using cognitive behavioral techniques. | ||
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Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric conditions that present during childhood (Dadds & Barrett, 2001; Donovan & Spence, 2000). Symptoms of anxiety often co-occur with other diagnoses common in childhood, such as disorders of attention, mood, conduct and development (Catalano, Kosterman, Hawkins & Newcomb, 1996; Kashani & Orvaschel, 1990; Kendall, Brady & Verduin, 2001). Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at high risk for developing co-morbid psychiatric conditions, particularly symptoms of anxiety (Gilliott, Furniss, & Walter, 2001; Muris, Steerneman, Mercklebach, Holdrinet, & Meesters, 1998). Given the high co-occurrence between anxiety disorders and ASD, development and implementation of effective treatments aimed towards the reduction of anxiety symptoms in this population is a very important area for further investigation. Studies of the effectiveness of treatment for reducing anxiety symptoms in children with ASD have focused primarily on medications, such as anxiolytics (Buitelaar, van der Gaag & van der Hoeven, 1998) and serotonergic agents (Aman, Arnold & Armstrong, 2000; Potenza et al., 1999; Tsai, 1999). Although there is a vast literature supporting the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) of anxiety symptoms in typically developing children (see Bernstein et al., 1996 for a review), few studies exist on the systematic use of psychosocial interventions for treating anxiety symptoms in children with developmental disabilities or ASD in particular. Modified cognitive behavioral strategies have been demonstrated to be effective in treating the anxiety symptoms of a child with Asperger Syndrome (Reaven & Hepburn, 2003). The efficacy of individual CBT in typically developing children with anxiety disorders, as well as cognitive-behavioral group treatment for these children has been well-documented (Barrett, 1998; Kendall, 1994, Compton et al., 2004). Research has further demonstrated that the effectiveness of CBT protocols for treatment of anxiety in children was often enhanced when parents were actively involved in the treatment process (Cobham, Dadds, & Spence, 1998). The implications of these findings are clear, and suggest that in the general pediatric population, cognitive-behavioral strategies delivered in both individuals and group contexts, particularly with parent participation, have been found to be highly successful in reducing anxiety symptoms (Barrett, 1998). Given the high co-occurrence of anxiety disorders in children with ASD, group treatment may be a cost-effective way of addressing a clear clinical need. To date, no published studies have documented the efficacy of a modified cognitive behavioral approach in the group treatment of children with ASD as well as co-occurring anxiety disorders. A primary purpose of the current study was to measure the efficacy of group CBT treatment for children with ASD. With this in mind, the presentation will outline the results of a pilot intervention project aimed towards the reduction of the severity of anxiety symptoms in 8 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. The children and their parents participated in 12 weeks of group therapy intervention. Empirically-supported CBT approaches for treatment of anxiety symptoms were implemented during the group therapy sessions, although much attention was directed towards modification of these protocols for children with ASD. Pre- and post-treatment assessments were conducted and preliminary findings in addition to recommendations for future research will be shared. An outline of the manual content and video sampling of the group sessions over time will be included as part of the presentation. It is anticipated that the pilot data from this initial phase of study will be extremely valuable in understanding the efficacy of our proposed CBT approach in working with children with high-functioning ASD. Our research plan includes the preliminary completion of a set of treatment manuals describing the intervention approach to reduce anxiety symptoms in children with ASD. It is expected that that these manuals will ultimately be used in a randomized clinical trial to systematically investigate the efficacy of this approach. Given the high co-occurrence of anxiety disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders, it is hoped that the creation of evidence-based manuals to treat anxiety symptoms will represent a major advance in intervention and research programs for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. Educational Objectives By the completion of this presentation, the learner will be able to: 1. Outline the components of a modified cognitive-behavioral protocol for group treatment of anxiety symptoms in children with ASD. 2. Outline the components of a group for parents of children with ASD and co-occurring anxiety symptoms. 3. Discuss the preliminary findings of a modified cognitive-behavioral group therapy for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders and co-occurring anxiety symptoms. |
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