A Pilot Study of One-Session Treatment for Specific Phobias in Children with ASD Traits

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Muskett, Ashley
Radtke, Sarah R
Ollendick, Thomas
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2019
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

Objectives: One-Session Treatment (OST), a three-hour treatment which includes psychoeducation, exposure, participant modeling, cognitive challenges, and positive reinforcement, has been shown to be effective for the treatment of childhood phobias. Several comorbid anxiety conditions such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder have been shown to have little or no negative effects on treatment outcomes for OST whereas others such as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have been shown to compromise treatment outcomes. This study sought to examine the initial efficacy of OST for children with a behavioral profile demonstrating specific traits of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We undertook this exploratory study to determine the feasibility and potential efficacy of this brief treatment with these youth. Methods: Two variations of the treatment were trialed. In the OST condition, the child alone received treatment with minimal parental involvement. In the Augmented OST condition, two clinicians were assigned to each family: one clinician worked with the child and the other with the parent. Families in both treatments returned for follow-up assessments one-week, 6-months, and 1-year later. Results: A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant reductions in phobia severity as well as increases in overall functioning for both forms of treatment. Conclusions: These results suggest that OST may be an effective intervention for children with ASD traits who evince SPs. Future controlled studies will need to examine the efficacy of this brief intervention with carefully diagnosed youth with ASD as well as explore specific components that make it effective for these children.

Journal Title
Journal of Child and Family Studies
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note
This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Linguistics
Social Sciences
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Family Studies
Psychology, Developmental
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Muskett, A; Radtke, SR; Ollendick, T, A Pilot Study of One-Session Treatment for Specific Phobias in Children with ASD Traits, Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2019
Collections