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Dismantling the Active Ingredients of an Intervention for Children with Autism

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Abstract

This study evaluated the association of fidelity to each of the components of the Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research (STAR) program, a comprehensive treatment package for children with autism that includes discrete trial training, pivotal response training, and teaching in functional routines, on outcomes for 191 students ages 5–8 years in a large public school district. Fidelity to all components was relatively low, despite considerable training and support, suggesting the need to develop new implementation strategies. Fidelity to pivotal response training, but not discrete trial training or functional routines, was positively associated with gains in cognitive ability despite low levels of fidelity, and may be an effective intervention choice in under-resourced settings.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted as partial fulfillment of the first author’s doctoral dissertation research requirements. This work was supported by funding from the following Grants from the National Institute of Health: 1R01MH083717 and the Institute of Education Sciences: R324A080195 to Mandell. Additionally, the preparation of this article was supported in part by the following Grant from the National Institute of Health: K23 MH099179 to Beidas.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3535 Market St, 3rd Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Melanie Pellecchia, Rinad S. Beidas, Ming Xie, Steven C. Marcus & David S. Mandell

  2. AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, 3020 Market St, Suite 560, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    James E. Connell

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  1. Melanie Pellecchia
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Correspondence to Melanie Pellecchia.

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Pellecchia, M., Connell, J.E., Beidas, R.S. et al. Dismantling the Active Ingredients of an Intervention for Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 2917–2927 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2455-0

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