Improving Access to Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) Via Telehealth Parent Training

NCT ID: NCT04042337

Last Updated: 2025-11-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 101 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-04-13
• Study Completion Date: 2025-10-29

Brief Summary

There is an urgent need for improved access to effective autism treatments. With advances in technology, distance learning models have particular promise for families who cannot access evidence-based parent training locally or may be on long wait-lists for behavioral treatments. Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is an established treatment for autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, a telehealth PRT model has not yet been evaluated in a controlled trial. This study will examine the effects of training parents in PRT via secure video conferencing and investigate 1) whether parents can learn via telehealth to deliver PRT in the home setting (PRT-T) and 2) whether their children will show greater improvement in functional communication skills compared to children in a waitlist control group. Participants will include 40 children age 2 to 5 years with ASD and significant language delay. Eligible children will be randomly assigned to either PRT-T (N=20) or waiting list (N=20). Weekly 60-minute parent training sessions will be delivered for 12 weeks via secure video conferencing software by a PRT-trained study therapist. The effects of PRT-T on parent fidelity of PRT implementation, child communication deficits including frequency of functional verbal utterances, and parent-report of communication skills on standardized questionnaires will be evaluated. This research will provide a foundation for wider dissemination of technology-based solutions to improve access to ASD treatment.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

PRT Telehealth

Participating parents will receive 12 weekly 60-minute parent training sessions via secure videoconference to learn Pivotal Response Treatment

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Pivotal Response Treatment

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

PRT will target functional communication abilities

Waitlist

Participants will continue stable community-based treatments

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Pivotal Response Treatment

PRT will target functional communication abilities

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

a) children who have a primary language other than English, b) parent or child diagnosed with severe psychiatric disorder or unstable medical problem, c) child participating in >15 hours per week of 1:1 ABA treatment at home, d) unstable medical condition such as severe seizures, e) Severe behavioral difficulties (e.g., self-injury or aggression that could present a safety risk to the child or family members during implementation of the intervention), f) previous adequate trial of pivotal response treatment, or g) living within 200 miles of Stanford University.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 2 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Stanford University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Grace Gengoux

Clinical Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Stanford, California, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

52597

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id