Evaluating Additive Effects of Including Canines in Regulating Together

NCT ID: NCT05803343

Last Updated: 2024-07-09

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

240 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-02-28

Study Completion Date

2027-08-31

Brief Summary

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The primary objective is to evaluate the potential additive effect of animal-assisted intervention (AAI) on a manualized behavioral treatment targeting emotion dysregulation (ED) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Aim 1: Evaluate whether Regulating Together-Canine demonstrates earlier and greater improvement in emotion dysregulation than Regulating Together-Standard.

Aim 2: Evaluate if Regulating Together-Canine increases child engagement and learning compared to Regulating Together-Standard.

Exploratory Aim: Explore association of physiological arousal (via heart rate tracking) with emotion dysregulation, treatment engagement, and learning.

Detailed Description

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Children between the ages of 8 years 0 months and 15 years 11 months with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and emotion dysregulation (ED) and their caregivers will participate in 5 research visits and 10 group intervention sessions. They are randomly assigned to either Regulating Together-Standard group (no dog), or Regulating Together-Canine group (with dog). Characterization measures will be completed at Screen (T1). All outcome measures will be completed at Baseline (T2), Post-treatment (1-2 weeks following treatment completion, T3), 10 week post treatment completion follow up (T4), and 6 month post treatment completion follow up (T5).

Conditions

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Autism Spectrum Disorder Emotion Regulation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Regulating Together-Canine (RT-Canine)

Participants in this Arm will receive the Regulating Together-Canine intervention.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Regulating Together-Canine

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

RT-C is an animal assisted, intensive outpatient group intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder and emotion dysregulation. RT-C meets for 1.5 hours, twice weekly for five weeks with concurrent youth and caregiver groups. The children progress through skills including relaxation training, arousal ratings, problem size, mindfulness, problem solving, and cognitive flexibility. The caregivers learn crisis management, reward systems, and coaching strategies for topics taught to the children. Homework is utilized to reinforce use of skills outside the group. The canines are present throughout as both a calming presence and teaching assistant. Children will be able to interact with the dog when practicing relaxation at the beginning of each session and throughout the session. Additionally, the dog will help to emphasize certain curriculum concepts.

Regulating Together-Standard (RT-Standard)

Participants in this Arm will receive the Regulating Together-Standard intervention.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Regulating Together-Standard

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

RT-S an established, intensive outpatient group intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder and emotion dysregulation. It engages both caregivers and children and utilizes evidence-based intervention techniques including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), visuals, reinforcements, and scaffolding, and newer interventions such as mindfulness and acceptance-based therapy.

Interventions

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Regulating Together-Canine

RT-C is an animal assisted, intensive outpatient group intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder and emotion dysregulation. RT-C meets for 1.5 hours, twice weekly for five weeks with concurrent youth and caregiver groups. The children progress through skills including relaxation training, arousal ratings, problem size, mindfulness, problem solving, and cognitive flexibility. The caregivers learn crisis management, reward systems, and coaching strategies for topics taught to the children. Homework is utilized to reinforce use of skills outside the group. The canines are present throughout as both a calming presence and teaching assistant. Children will be able to interact with the dog when practicing relaxation at the beginning of each session and throughout the session. Additionally, the dog will help to emphasize certain curriculum concepts.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Regulating Together-Standard

RT-S an established, intensive outpatient group intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder and emotion dysregulation. It engages both caregivers and children and utilizes evidence-based intervention techniques including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), visuals, reinforcements, and scaffolding, and newer interventions such as mindfulness and acceptance-based therapy.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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RT-Canine, RT-C RT-Standard, RT-S

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Concern of emotion dysregulation (ED) as measured by a score of 6 or greater on the Emotion Dysregulation Inventory-Reactivity (EDI-R)
* Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
* Diagnosis confirmed by an experienced ASD clinician and further supported by scoring in the range for ASD on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2)
* A Full Scale Intelligence Quotient score of 65 or greater on the Weschler Abbreviated Scale Intelligence (WASI-II)
* English is the primary language
* Family willing to keep prescribed medication stable over the course of the study period

Exclusion Criteria

* Participant has a phobia toward or is allergic to canines
* Participant has a history of aggression toward animals
* Participant has had any physical aggression toward other children outside the home in the past 2 weeks that resulted in injury
* Presence of comorbid major neuropsychiatric illness warranting other treatment approaches as determined by the study clinician(s) including substance use disorders, psychotic disorders/schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, among others
* Presence of any major sensory impairment that would limit participating in the material including blindness or uncorrected hearing loss
* A legal guardian is not available to provide informed consent
Minimum Eligible Age

8 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

15 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Rebecca Shaffer, Psy.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Locations

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Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Carrie Fassler

Role: CONTACT

513-803-3580

Facility Contacts

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Carrie Fassler

Role: primary

513-803-3580

Other Identifiers

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1R01HD106353

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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