Enabling Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders - a Randomized Controlled Trial of Parenting Programs

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Autism Spectrum Disorder

In brief

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are disabling and impairing conditions affecting 1% of children in Norway. ASD is hallmarked by severe social deficit and lack of independence causing reliance on supportive systems throughout life. Parents are usually the primary caretakers and support, often throughout life. Normal parenting skills are however often ineffective due to the social dysfunction of the child with ASD. This causes high stress as the demands exceed the resources and capability of the parent. The high stress is associated to increased risk for mental health problems, divorce, unemployment and reduced quality of life. High parent stress may also reduce the effect of interventions in ASD. However, although the need is great and parental follow-up is an integral part of health care for ASD children, there is a lack of evidence for such interventions. The current project aims to evaluate a specific parent program that is in clinical use - the Incredible Years for children with ASD - compared with a standardised treatment as usual (TAU) composed of clinical parent workshops ("first aid for parents"). The aim is to evaluate parenting interventions and promote evidence-based practice in a clinical setting. The investigators will perform a randomized controlled trial and qualitative interviews to compare the effectiveness of treatment as usual (TAU) versus a manualized parent program (IY-ASLD). The study aims to investigate if the parental program may reduce parent stress and improve parental competence and self-efficacy. Secondary goals are to investigate whether the parent program may improve quality of life for the parent and the child and have an impact on long-term child functioning and service use.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT05750095

Run by

Haukeland University Hospital

People needed

240

Starts

2022-01-10

Expected to finish

2028-10-30

Last updated by the study team

2026-03-18

Who can join

Age: 2 and older, up to 6. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Parent of child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, age 2-6

You may not qualify if…

• Level of Norwegian insufficient to benefit from a parental program without the use of an interpreter
• Ongoing major crisis in the family or major disabling condition in the participating parent
• Ongoing participation in another manualized (any) parent program

Where it is running

• Haukeland University Hospital — Bergen, Norway (enrolling)
• Helse Fonna — Haugesund, Norway (enrolling)
• St Olavs Hospital — Trondheim, Norway (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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