Pivotal Response Treatment for School-Aged Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 4506 - 4519
• Main Authors: de Korte, Manon W. P., van den Berk-Smeekens, Iris, Buitelaar, Jan. K., Staal, Wouter G., van Dongen-Boomsma, Martine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Autism; Autistic adolescents; Autistic children; Behavior Modification; Behavior therapy; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Care and treatment; Child and School Psychology; Children; Clinical medicine; Clinical trials; Communication Skills; Demographic aspects; Diagnosis; Early Adolescents; Interpersonal Competence; Intervention; Methods; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Patient outcomes; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Program Effectiveness; Psychology; Public Health; Social skills; Socialization; Teenagers; Netherlands; School-age; Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Adolescents; Randomized controlled trial; Pivotal response treatment (PRT)
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-04886-0

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is promising for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but more methodologically robust designed studies are needed. In this randomized controlled trial, forty-four children with ASD, aged 9–15 years, were randomly allocated to PRT ( n  = 22) or treatment-as-usual (TAU; n  = 22). Measurements were obtained after 12- and 20-weeks treatment, and 2-month follow-up. PRT resulted in significant greater improvements on parent-rated social-communicative skills after 12 weeks treatment ( p  = .004, partial η 2  = 0.22), compared to TAU. Furthermore, larger gains in PRT compared to TAU were observed on blindly rated global functioning, and parent-rated adaptive socialization skills and attention problems. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.