ChAAMPS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Childhood Anxiety in Autism Managed by Parents Study
IRAS ID
307932
Contact name
Jonathan Green
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Manchester University Hospital Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Aim: To adapt the programme “Helping your child with fears and worries” (HYC) to meet the needs of autistic children with anxiety problems.
Background: Many autistic children struggle with anxiety problems, but often do not get specialist support. Guidelines have highlighted the importance of adapting anxiety treatment programmes to meet the needs of autistic children, but existing programmes are typically long and not easily delivered within child and adolescent mental health settings.
The programme: “Helping your child with fears and worries” is an effective brief parent-led anxiety programme for non-autistic children. It is widely used across the National Health Service (NHS) and local authorities. Parents are provided with resources and support from a therapist to help them help their child. When support is provided through parents, children who cannot access traditional support can benefit as they do not need to go to appointments or speak with the therapist. This might be a particularly useful approach for autistic children.
The need: Clinical teams frequently ask us how they can use this programme to treat the anxiety problems faced by the many autistic children referred to them; we do not yet know the answer.
Working together: This project will involve researchers, autistic adults, parents of autistic children, and clinicians working collaboratively together. Autistic children with anxiety problems and their parents will be asked about how the programme needs to change to fit their needs. An expert reference group, including parents of autistic children, autistic adults with lived experience of anxiety, clinicians, and researchers will meet regularly to review the information collected and adapt the programme.
Next steps: We will apply for funding to test how well the adapted programme works.
Sharing findings: Findings will be shared through social media and parent support groups. We will write two academic papers co-authored by public contributors.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
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