Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Versus a Counselling Intervention for Anxiety in Young People with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 47; no. 11; pp. 3446 - 3457
• Main Authors: Murphy, Suzanne M., Chowdhury, Uttom, White, Susan W., Reynolds, Laura, Donald, Louisa, Gahan, Hilary, Iqbal, Zeinab, Kulkarni, Mahesh, Scrivener, Louise, Shaker-Naeeni, Hadi, Press, Dee A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Alternative medicine; Anxiety; Anxiety disorders; Anxiety Disorders - complications; Anxiety Disorders - therapy; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - complications; Autism Spectrum Disorder - therapy; Autistic adolescents; Autistic children; Behavior Modification; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child; Child and School Psychology; Children; Clinical trials; Coding; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive behavioral therapy; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - methods; Cognitive Restructuring; Cognitive therapy; Comparative Analysis; Counseling; Counseling - methods; Counseling Effectiveness; Counseling Techniques; Diagnostic Tests; Disability; Female; Foreign Countries; Group therapy; Health aspects; High functioning; Humans; Interpersonal Competence; Learning disabled people; Male; Measures (Individuals); Neurosciences; Observation; Original Paper; Parent Attitudes; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Pilot Projects; Pretests Posttests; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Public Health; Randomized Controlled Trials; Rating Scales; Self Concept; Social anxiety; Statistical Analysis; Teacher Attitudes; Teachers; Youth; United Kingdom; Anxiety; Cognitive behavioural therapy; Counselling; Autism spectrum disorder; Randomised controlled trial; Adolescent
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-017-3252-8

The use of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been explored in a number of trials. Whilst CBT appears superior to no treatment or treatment as usual, few studies have assessed CBT against a control group receiving an alternative therapy. Our randomised controlled trial compared use of CBT against person-centred counselling for anxiety in 36 young people with ASD, ages 12–18. Outcome measures included parent- teacher- and self-reports of anxiety and social disability. Whilst each therapy produced improvements in participants, neither therapy was superior to the other to a significant degree on any measure. This is consistent with findings for adults.