About this trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to enhance motivation to complete daily living skills among 16 to 25-year-old autistic teens and young adults. Here are the main questions the trial aims to answer:
Can this trial improve motivation to complete daily living skills for skills that people know how to do but struggle to do them consistently?
Can this trial improve completion of the daily living skill that the participant identifies they want to do more often?
Do people report feeling more empowered to complete the daily living skill they want to do more often?
Are there any characteristics of a person that make them more or less likely to benefit from the treatment?
Researchers will compare treatments that target different types of motivation:
* One treatment focuses on internal motivation and explores what is important to someone and then connect that value back to their daily living skill goal. * A second treatment focuses on external motivation and will explore a person finding outside sources of motivation, like rewards. * A third treatment will use a combination of both methods.
Autistic teens and young adults enrolled in this study will also be asked to choose someone in their life to be involved in the study with them. This person is called an "Important Person" (IP) and can be anyone close to them, like a family member, friend, roommate, partner, etc. The IP will be expected to support the teen/young adult throughout this treatment.
Participants and their IPs will:
* Complete five 'talk' therapy sessions that will last 60 to 90 minutes. The IPs will join the last 15 minutes of each session) * Be assigned to one of the three motivation treatments * Fill out questionnaires before the first session, after sessions 2 through 5, and 2 weeks after therapy ends
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Age 16-25 years
Participants reporting an autism diagnosis from a qualified provider (Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Developmental Pediatrician, Neurologist). When possible, diagnosis will be confirmed through the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Electronic Health Record (EHR).
Must identify an important person who is able to communicate by understanding and speaking full sentences in English
Ability to communicate by understanding and using full sentences in English
Disqualifiers
Diagnosis of Intellectual Disability
Participant is currently considered a suicide risk in the opinion of the Investigator or is currently demonstrating active suicidal or homicidal ideation or self-injurious behavior.
Current, comorbid psychiatric disorder with sufficiently intense symptoms in the opinion of the Investigator that these symptoms may confound treatment.
Changes to mental health treatment plan (ex. starting or ending therapy or psychotropic medications over the course of this intervention).
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Intrinsic Motivation Treatment
- Extrinsic Motivation Treatment
- Combined Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Treatment