ASTAR
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Autism Spectrum Treatment and Resilience (ASTAR) Study
IRAS ID
209909
Contact name
Tony Charman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
The ASTAR Study is designed to compare two newly developed group interventions for parents of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Both interventions (ASTAR A and ASTAR B) will use recognised strategies designed to help families with children with ASD. They will extend parents’ understanding of ASD and associated difficulties but each intervention has a different focus. ASTAR A will include psychoeducation, supporting parents to promote their child’s social communication skills and promoting use of existing supports and resources. ASTAR B will focus on emotional and behavioural problems and discussing ways of managing these. Both interventions will consist of 12 weekly group sessions and two home visits and tailored support from trained professionals will be offered. The proposal consists of two phases; a feasibility study and pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT). During the feasibility phase, the feasibility of conducting the study and the acceptability of the research procedures and the interventions will be tested. Following this, a pilot RCT will be conducted to compare the effects of the ASTAR A to ASTAR B to test the specific effect on reducing concerning child emotions and behaviours. The participants will be randomly allocated to one of these two interventions.
We will recruit 84 families with a 4-8 year old child with ASD, some of who will also have an intellectual disability (N~24). 24 families will be recruited during the feasibility phase and 60 during the pilot RCT phase. Participants will be recruited through a number of routes, include referral through clinical services, consent to contact registers, education professionals, support and community groups and ASD charities. Before and after the interventions we will assess parent-child interaction, child mental health and behaviour in home and education settings, parenting stress, parental competence/self-efficacy, parenting practices, parental wellbeing and parental quality of life. This will enable us to examine the effects of the interventions on child and parent outcomes. Service use and costs will also be sought and the cost-effectiveness of the interventions will be examined. In addition, we will obtain parent and professional views on the research procedures and the interventions and approximately 8-10 additional families who declined to take part will be asked about their views on the study and reasons for declining. This will enable us to develop a research procedures and interventions that are acceptable to participants and therapists.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1769
Date of REC Opinion
14 Nov 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion