Physical Exercise to Reduce Anxiety in Underserved Children With ASD

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Physical Exercise Condition, Control Condition

In brief

Anxiety is one of the most frequent comorbidities in children with ASD leading to poor clinical outcomes. Physical exercise has been shown to be a promising and easy to implement intervention for reducing anxiety. However, little is known about the feasibility and efficacy of physical exercise to reduce anxiety in children with ASD from underserved, low-income families. Children with ASD, ages 6 - 12 years old from low-income and Latino families will be recruited for the study and assigned to an exercise intervention group and a sedentary control group. The physical exercise program is an eight-week program, administered three times per week in small groups. Compliance, parent-rated anxiety, and salivary cortisol will be measured before and after completion of the exercise and control group interventions.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02902952

Run by

University of California, Irvine

People needed

148

Starts

2016-10-01

Expected to finish

2020-01-01

Last updated by the study team

2023-04-04

Who can join

Age: 6 and older, up to 12. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnosis 6-12 years old
• ≥ 93rd percentile on CBCL or total score of ≥ 25 on SCARED
• Able to attend 3x/week for 8 consecutive weeks
• Able to follow instructions
• CalOptima Insurance or Medicaid and ability to participate in moderate physical exercise

You may not qualify if…

• Danger to themselves or others
• Medical conditions that may pose a risk during exercise
• Unable to participate in moderate physical exercise
• Joining a regular physical exercise program in the last 4 weeks or planning to start or discontinue a regular physical exercise program in the next 8 weeks
• Unable to attend 3x/week for 8 consecutive weeks
• Visual, auditory or motor impairments, which would preclude participation in study activities

Where it is running

• 2500 Red Hill Avenue — Santa Ana, California, United States
• Thompson Center for Autism — Columbia, Missouri, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.