Comparing Two Different Emotion Therapies for Autistic Youth and Young Adults
NCT ID: NCT06158581
Last Updated: 2025-05-29
Study Results
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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RECRUITING
NA
470 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2024-04-08
2027-08-01
Brief Summary
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Detailed Description
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Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
TREATMENT
SINGLE
Study Groups
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The Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement
EASE is a 16-session mindfulness-based intervention (MBI). It emphasizes a small set of core concepts (i.e., mindfulness practices, distress tolerance, encouraging helpful thoughts, self-compassion) that are repeated with consistent language throughout. Emphasis is placed on increasing awareness of gradients of emotional arousal.
The Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement Program
EASE is a cutting-edge program created by researchers at the University of Alabama and the University of Pittsburgh in collaboration with autistic individuals, caregivers of autistic youth, and therapists. The overarching goal of the program is to support autistic clients who want to work on emotion regulation. EASE is unique because it targets emotional distress in autistic youth and adults, instead of targeting the core symptoms of autism (i.e., it is not a social skills intervention).
The program is a 16-session, mindfulness-based intervention. Each session is 1:1 for 45 minutes to one hour. While the program is designed for individual intervention, caregivers are also invited to play an active role on the care team.
The Unified Protocol
UP is a 12-21 session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based treatment. In this study, there will be 16 sessions. UP is focused on identifying emotions and building new coping strategies. It is customizable to meet the needs of the individual.
The Unified Protocol
UP is a thoroughly-studied, manualized intervention created by researchers at the University of Miami in conjunction with researchers at Boston University. The program was designed to be customizable to meet the needs of people with a variety of diagnoses, allowing more individuals to access emotion regulation resources. The protocol also has different modules to accommodate different developmental levels (UP-Children, UP-Adolescent, UP-Adult). The overall goal of UP is to help clients identify emotions and build new strategies to cope with stressful life situations and distressing emotions.
The protocol is flexible, with each session is about 45 to 60 minutes and the number of sessions varying between 12 - 21 sessions. For the current study, the treatment will take place over 16 sessions. The intervention is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based but also includes hints of mindfulness-based intervention strategies.
Interventions
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The Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement Program
EASE is a cutting-edge program created by researchers at the University of Alabama and the University of Pittsburgh in collaboration with autistic individuals, caregivers of autistic youth, and therapists. The overarching goal of the program is to support autistic clients who want to work on emotion regulation. EASE is unique because it targets emotional distress in autistic youth and adults, instead of targeting the core symptoms of autism (i.e., it is not a social skills intervention).
The program is a 16-session, mindfulness-based intervention. Each session is 1:1 for 45 minutes to one hour. While the program is designed for individual intervention, caregivers are also invited to play an active role on the care team.
The Unified Protocol
UP is a thoroughly-studied, manualized intervention created by researchers at the University of Miami in conjunction with researchers at Boston University. The program was designed to be customizable to meet the needs of people with a variety of diagnoses, allowing more individuals to access emotion regulation resources. The protocol also has different modules to accommodate different developmental levels (UP-Children, UP-Adolescent, UP-Adult). The overall goal of UP is to help clients identify emotions and build new strategies to cope with stressful life situations and distressing emotions.
The protocol is flexible, with each session is about 45 to 60 minutes and the number of sessions varying between 12 - 21 sessions. For the current study, the treatment will take place over 16 sessions. The intervention is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based but also includes hints of mindfulness-based intervention strategies.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* a score in the clinical range on the EDI-Reactivity or EDI-Dysphoria scale based on caregiver report or self-report
* The study is open to people with a range of communication abilities. Participants must be able to consent to the study themselves and answer questions about themselves.
* Participants need to have a support person that could answer questions about them too. This could be a parent, caregiver, family member, partner or friend.
* Participants must live in Alabama or Pennsylvania.
Exclusion Criteria
10 Years
30 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
OTHER
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
OTHER
University of Pittsburgh
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Carla Mazefsky
Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Clinical and Translational Science
Principal Investigators
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Carla Mazefsky, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of Pittsburgh
Susan White, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Locations
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University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Countries
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Central Contacts
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Facility Contacts
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References
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Conner CM, White SW, Beck KB, Golt J, Smith IC, Mazefsky CA. Improving emotion regulation ability in autism: The Emotional Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) program. Autism. 2019 Jul;23(5):1273-1287. doi: 10.1177/1362361318810709. Epub 2018 Nov 7.
Ellard KK, Fairholme CP, Boisseau CL, Farchione TJ, Barlow DH. Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders: Protocol Development and Initial Outcome Data. Cogn Behav Pract. 2010 Feb;17(1):88-101. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2009.06.002. Epub 2010 Jan 29.
Barlow DH, Farchione T, Sauer-Zavala, Shannon Murray Latin H, et al. Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders: Therapist Guide. Second Edi. Oxford University Press; 2017.
Ehrenreich-May J, Kennedy SM, Sherman JA, et al. Unified Protocols for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Therapist Guide. Oxford University Press; 2017.
Other Identifiers
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IDD-2022C1-26418
Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT
Identifier Source: secondary_id
STUDY23090024
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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