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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2017 Nov;47(11):3446-3457.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-017-3252-8.

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

Suzanne M Murphy  1 , Uttom Chowdhury  2 , Susan W White  3 , Laura Reynolds  4 , Louisa Donald  5 , Hilary Gahan  2 , Zeinab Iqbal  6 , Mahesh Kulkarni  2 , Louise Scrivener  2 , Hadi Shaker-Naeeni  2 , Dee A Press  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

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

Suzanne M Murphy et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2017 Nov.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Adolescent; Anxiety; Autism spectrum disorder; Cognitive behavioural therapy; Counselling; Randomised controlled trial.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CONSORT 2010 flow diagram for study trial
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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