Treatment of Anxiety in Late Adolescents With Autism

Status unconfirmed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Autism Spectrum Disorder

In brief

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect approximately 1.1% of late adolescents and young adults, making it one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. Comorbid anxiety disorders affect many higher-functioning adolescents and young adults with ASD, causing substantial distress and impairment over and above that caused by an ASD diagnosis alone. While cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a first-line treatment for anxiety disorders among typically developing late adolescents, and work by the investigative team supports its utility in children with ASD and comorbid anxiety, very few evidence-based treatment approaches exist for late adolescents with ASD and comorbid anxiety. Accordingly, the investigators are proposing to develop a CBT protocol for clinical anxiety that is personalized to the unique clinical characteristics of late adolescents (ages 16-21 years) with ASD namely, the Treatment of Anxiety in Late Adolescents with Autism (TALAA).

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02977962

Run by

University of South Florida

People needed

44

Starts

2017-01-01

Expected to finish

2021-08-01

Last updated by the study team

2020-04-24

Who can join

Age: 16 and older, up to 21. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Outpatient males and females with ASD between the ages 16-21 years at consent/assent.
• The individual meets criteria for ASD.
• The individual meets criteria for clinically significant anxiety symptoms.
• Meets criteria for a diagnosis of one of the following anxiety disorders: separation anxiety disorder (SAD), specific phobia, panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP), or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and has a minimum score of 14 on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale.
• Person has a Full Scale IQ approximation > 70 as assessed by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale for Intelligence-II two or four sub-test form.

You may not qualify if…

• Receiving concurrent psychotherapy focused on anxiety.
• Initiation of an antidepressant medication within 12 weeks before study enrollment or an antipsychotic medication 6 weeks before study enrollment or the child has changed the dose of an established medication within 8 weeks before study enrollment (4 weeks for antipsychotic) or during psychotherapy (unless the dose is lowered because of side effects).
• (a) Current clinically significant suicidality or (b) individuals who have engaged in suicidal behaviors within 6 months will be excluded and referred for appropriate clinical intervention.
• Lifetime bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, or substance abuse in past 6 months.

Where it is running

• Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry, University of South Florida — St. Petersburg, Florida, United States (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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