Enhancing Social Competence in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot RCT

项目总结 自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)的特征是社交能力的原发损害。当前 成人自闭症患者缺乏心理社会干预，亟需干预。当前提案的目标是 是解决这一关键的、未得到满足的需求，为成人自闭症患者发展心理社会干预措施，方法是 利用一种创新的干预措施，对患有自闭症的儿童和青少年产生新的疗效。感觉 Theatre将成熟的行为技术与同行提供的戏剧策略相结合- 调解的社区服务模式，有强有力的证据表明社会能力显著提高。 最近一项针对患有自闭症的青少年的随机对照试验(RCT)的研究结果显示，组间效应立竿见影 以及在假设的行动机制、社会突显(例如，记忆)上的目标参与的证据 对于面部)，通过事件相关电位(ERP)和神经心理测量进行评估，这与 改善社会互动、社会沟通和适应功能。虽然之前的研究已经 该应用程序的目标是确定Sense Theatre对患有以下疾病的成年人是否有效 ASD影响社会认知，进而导致成年人功能性临床结果的变化 ASD.该提案将制定和实施一项关于现有和新的心理社会干预的试点随机对照研究。 专门为患有自闭症的成年人量身定做。干预包括每周10次会议，每次3小时，如下所示 以及服装/技术彩排和两场公开表演。对当前Sense Theatre的修改 计划将包括：1)培训成年同龄人，2)更适合年龄的戏剧主题和 个性化的独白(如社会关系、就业)，以及3)个性化的性格 发展和绩效目标。这项研究将招募40名患有18至35岁高功能ASD的参与者 年龄随机分为试验组(EXP=20)和等待名单控制组(WLC=20)。建议的RCT 目的是：1)评估面孔记忆的目标参与度，这是社交能力的一项基本技能，使用 神经成像(ERP)和神经心理测量，以及2)测试靶点程度之间的联系 面孔记忆和功能结果的参与(例如，社交技能，以及与新同事的社交互动)。 将在前测、后测和2个月的随访中对测量进行评估。该项目将有助于实现这一目标 告知、改进和定稿成人ASD感官剧场手册。如果预测的结果出现，它将 为心理社会干预提供强有力的经验支持，这种干预具有普遍和持续的效果 不加治疗的社交能力对患有自闭症的成年人有重大影响。

PROJECT SUMMARY Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by primary impairment in social competence. Current psychosocial interventions for adults with ASD are lacking and urgently needed. The goal of the current proposal is to address this critical, unmet need for the development of psychosocial interventions for adults with ASD by utilizing an innovative intervention with emerging efficacy in children and adolescents with ASD. SENSE Theatre combines established behavioral techniques alongside theatrical strategies delivered in a peer- mediated, community service model with strong evidence of significant improvement in social competence. Recent findings from a randomized control trial (RCT) in youth with ASD show immediate between-group effects and evidence of target engagement on the hypothesized mechanism of action, social salience (e.g., memory for faces), evaluated by event-related potentials (ERP) and neuropsychological measures, which were linked to improvement in social interaction, social communication and adaptive functioning. While previous research has been efficacious, the objective of the application is to determine if SENSE Theatre is effective for adults with ASD at impacting social cognition, which in turn results in changes in functional clinical outcomes for adults with ASD. The proposal will develop and conduct a pilot RCT on an existing and novel psychosocial intervention explicitly tailored for adults with ASD. The intervention consists of 10 weekly sessions, 3 hours per session as well as dress/technical rehearsal and two public performances. Modifications to the current SENSE Theatre program will include: 1) having trained adult peers, 2) more age-appropriate theatrical play themes and individualized monologues (e.g., social relationships, employment), and 3) individualized character development and performance goals. The study will enroll 40 participants with high-functioning ASD 18 to 35 years of age randomized to experimental (EXP = 20) and waitlist control (WLC = 20) groups. The proposed RCT aims to: 1) assess target engagement of memory for faces, a foundational skill for social competence, using neuroimaging (ERP) and neuropsychological measures, and 2) test the link between the degree of target engagement of face memory and functional outcomes (e.g., social skills, and social interaction with novel peers). Measures will be assessed at pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up. The project will help achieve the goal to inform, refine and finalize a SENSE Theatre manual for adults with ASD. If predicted results occur, it will provide strong empirical support for a psychosocial intervention that has generalized and maintained effects on social competence that left untreated has significant consequences for adults with ASD.