Faculty Bibliography

This is a replication, randomized control trial, that investigated the therapeutic effects of a 12-week equine-assisted (EA) intervention on the social and sensory functioning of children with autism. Reliability and stability of parent and teacher reports of children's social and sensory functioning across three assessment times were assessed, in support of the validity of observed outcomes. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that children in the EA group (n = 25) would significantly improve, relative to a wait-list control group (n = 25), in both domains of functioning. Results indicated that reports were reliable, and children in the experimental group improved in overall social and sensory functioning, as well as within specific subdomains, with "unblinded" assessment methods. Relative to the pre-assessment scores, children improved in functioning in specific areas at post-assessment and 8-weeks post-intervention. Therefore, results of the study suggest EA activities may be a beneficial modality for delivering autism-specific treatment strategies.

Joint attention, or the shared focus of attention between objects or events and a social partner, is a crucial milestone in the development of social communication and a notable area of deficit in children with autism spectrum disorder. While valid parent-report screening measures of social communication are available, the majority of these measures are designed to assess a wide range of behaviors. Targeted assessment of joint attention and related skills is primarily limited to semi-structured, examiner-led interactions, which are time-consuming and laborious to score. The Pictorial Infant Communication Scale is an efficient parent-report measure of joint attention that can be used as a complement to structured assessments in fully characterizing early social communication development. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale. Results revealed a high degree of internal consistency and strong intercorrelations between subscales. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model of joint attention. Furthermore, significant correlations between the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale and direct clinical measures of child joint attention, language skills, and autism spectrum disorder symptom severity were suggestive of concurrent validity. Findings suggest that the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale is a promising tool for measuring joint attention skills in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

The current study uses the actor-partner interdependence model to examine the predictors of relationship satisfaction for mothers and fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder. Sixty-seven couples completed measures of optimism, benefit finding, coping strategies, social support, and relationship satisfaction. Results indicated that parent's positive strengths predicted better personal relationship satisfaction. Moreover, parents' benefit finding, use of emotional support, and perceived social support from their partner also predicted their partner's relationship satisfaction. The results of this study highlight the importance of focusing on positive factors that can enhance relationship quality. Implications for the development of parent-focused interventions are discussed.

The frequent co-occurrence of anxiety disorders and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in youth has spurred study of intervention practices for this population. As anxiety disorders in the absence of ASD are effectively treated using cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) protocols, an initial step in evaluating treatments for comorbid youth has necessarily centered on adaptation of CBT. One primary limitation of this research, to date, is that interventions for adolescents with anxiety disorders and ASD have not been systematically tested. In this study, 20 adolescents (90% male) with ASD and a comorbid anxiety disorder, between ages 11 and 14 years (M = 12.2 years, SD = 1.11 years), participated in an open trial of modified CBT targeting anxiety with ASD. Findings demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety severity, as assessed by clinician and parent ratings, from baseline to post-treatment. In addition, reductions in parent-rated externalizing symptoms were observed. Gains were maintained at a 1-month follow-up.