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ViewAttendees 4

Symposia

Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders

Innovation in Early Intervention: Targeting Psychological Mechanisms in Young Autistic Children

3 - (SYM 20) Supporting Early Emotion Regulation in Autism: A Group-based Intervention Approach

Friday, November 15, 2024
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
Location: Grand Ballroom I/J, Level 5, Downtown Marriott
Abstract Body


Background: Autistic youth experience greater emotion regulation (ER) difficulties than their non-autistic peers (Conner et al., 2021). ER difficulties in autism are associated with poorer outcomes, such as higher externalizing behaviors and increased utilization of psychiatric and emergency services. Thus, ER may be a particularly meaningful early treatment mechanism for autistic children.



Objective: The current pair of studies aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the Stress and Anger Management Program (STAMP; Scarpa et al., 2012) for autistic 4-to-7-year-olds.

Methods and

Results: STAMP is a 9-session ER treatment that teaches affective education, cognitive restructuring, and building an “emotional toolbox” of coping skills. In an RCT (Factor et al., 2019), a socioeconomically-diverse sample (income = $14,400-$250,000) of 23 dyads of children ages 4 to 7 (4 female; Mage = 5.46) and their parents completed STAMP or waitlist control. Parents rated child ER and lability/negativity (L/N) on the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC), and parent confidence in both child and parent ability to manage child emotions. Paired t-tests compared ERC change over time between STAMP and waitlist, and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test compared change in parent confidence between groups. ERC-L/N decreased in STAMP group only (t(9) = 2.45, p = .03). Parent confidence in child management of anger (Z = −2.42, p = .02) and anxiety (Z = −2.50, p = .01) increased only after STAMP. Once the waitlist received STAMP, the treatment and waitlist groups were combined to measure overall pre- to post-treatment change. ERC-L/N decreased and parent confidence increased in parent management of child anger and child management of anger and anxiety; ERC-ER increased non-significantly, but with a small effect size (d = .33). The second study (Swain et al., 2019) assessed individual-level treatment response  in 18 dyads (2 female; Mage = 6.16). Outcomes included ERC and 7-day parent monitoring of behavior intensity, duration, and frequency. Reliable Change Index (RCI) classified 67% of children as treatment responders (≥2 of 4 outcomes improved).



Conclusions: These results demonstrate that improving early ER in autistic children is possible through group treatment. Generalizability would be increased through replication in larger, more diverse samples. Additionally, utility of ER as a mechanism for meaningful, real-world change would be strengthened by follow-up with ecologically-relevant outcomes (e.g., psychiatric service use, adaptive daily living skills, quality of life).