Brain Activity Changes After Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Autistic Youth From High-Need Communities

Conditions

• Anxiety
• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

8 Years - 14 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Facing Your Fears (FYF) Intervention: A CBT Focused Group Treatment for Autistic Youth with Anxiety — BEHAVIORAL
  FYF is an outpatient, multi-family, evidence-based CBT group treatment for children and adolescents ages 8-14 with average intellectual abilities, and a primary co-occurring anxiety diagnosis (social, generalized, separation anxiety, or specific phobia).

Study Details

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate neural constructs related to anxiety symptoms in response to Facing Your Fears (FYF) treatment in autistic participants with co-occurring anxiety. Researchers will compare participants receiving immediate FYF intervention to those in the waitlist control group (receiving treatment as usual) to see if there are differences in neural constructs and anxiety symptom changes over the study period. Participants will: * Complete the Facing Your Fears (FYF) intervention if assigned to the immediate treatment group * Continue their usual treatment during a waitlist period if assigned to the control group, followed by the opportunity to participate in FYF intervention after the waiting period ends * Complete assessments of neural constructs, anxiety symptoms, and other measures

Key Dates

Start date

Apr 30, 2025

Status verified

Jun 2025

Primary completion

Sep 30, 2027

Completion

Sep 30, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment

60 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

• No Intervention: Waitlist-Control Condition
  Waitlist Control (WC) with Treatment-as-Usual (TAU). Participants in the WC arm will continue in their usual services and will be provided with referrals if needed. No specific treatment recommendations will be given.For ethical reasons, after completing the TAU waitlist period, families will be provided with an opportunity to participate in the FYF intervention.
• Experimental: Treatment Condition: Facing Your Fears (FYF) Group
  The group consists of 4-6 families who will meet for 90-minute weekly sessions for 12-14 weeks. The sessions will focus on psychoeducation and implementing CBT techniques to help autistic youth and their caregivers "face their fears" and tackle their anxiety.

Primary Outcome Measure

The Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED-P/C) [ Time Frame: Baseline and within 2 weeks of intervention completion (up to 14 weeks post first intervention session) ]

Central Contacts

• Erin Kang, PhD
  973-655-3615
  [email protected]
• Arabella Peters, B.A.
  [email protected]

Locations (2)

Find similar trials in Montclair, NJ

Related Studies

• Evaluation of the PACE/PACENET BHL Clinical Program
  Recruiting · University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Validation Digital Bio-markers During Sulforaphane Treatment.
  Enrolling By Invitation · Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · Piscataway, New Jersey
• mHealth Mindfulness With Patients With Serious Illness and Their Caregivers
  Recruiting · Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · Livingston, New Jersey
• A Comparison of Two Brief Suicide Prevention Interventions Tailored for Youth on the Autism Spectrum
  Enrolling By Invitation · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Baltimore, Maryland