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Summary of Lessons Learned from Two Studies: An Open Clinical Trial and a Randomized Controlled Trial of PCIT and Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Book cover Handbook of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Abstract

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the use of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) among preschoolers and school-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this chapter, we describe two studies of PCIT and ASD: an open clinical trial and a randomized controlled trial. In both evaluations, we used the standard PCIT protocol to examine treatment efficacy with children 3–7 years of age and tested the traditional PCIT model without adaptations. However, tailoring the model to meet the unique needs of individual children was necessary. In a few cases, adapting the model was required to address persistent aggression in CDI and difficulty sitting for a length of 3 min during the discipline sequence. We discuss the considerable promise of PCIT as a treatment for children with ASD to reduce disruptive behavior severity and we highlight particular lessons learned through our clinical work with children with ASD and their families.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Ashley Tempel Scudder

  2. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Cassandra Brenner Wong & Benjamin Handen

  3. Penn State University—Beaver, Monaca, PA, USA

    Marissa Mendoza-Burcham

Authors
  1. Ashley Tempel Scudder
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  2. Cassandra Brenner Wong
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  3. Marissa Mendoza-Burcham
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  4. Benjamin Handen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashley Tempel Scudder .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Cheryl Bodiford McNeil

  2. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Lauren Borduin Quetsch

  3. National Autism Center, May Institute, Randolph, MA, USA

    Cynthia M. Anderson

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Scudder, A.T., Wong, C.B., Mendoza-Burcham, M., Handen, B. (2018). Summary of Lessons Learned from Two Studies: An Open Clinical Trial and a Randomized Controlled Trial of PCIT and Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In: McNeil, C., Quetsch, L., Anderson, C. (eds) Handbook of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Children on the Autism Spectrum. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03213-5_24

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