Administering a Parent-based Pilot Intervention for Reducing Anxiety in Children With ASD and Anxiety
Administering a Parent-based Pilot Intervention for Reducing Anxiety in Children With ASD and Anxiety
We are implementing the SPACE program, an evidence-based protocol that has been proven to be
 efficent in childhood anxiety disorders and OCD (Lebowitz, 2013; Lebowitz, Omer, Hermes &
 Scahill, 2014), in a new population of children with ASD and anxiety. The intervention aims
 to reduce family accommodation of the child's anxiety symptoms. The program contains 12
 weekly 1-hour sessions with the parents. We will examine the impact of the intervention on
 family accommodation, ASD and anxiety symptomology, as well as parent and child satisfaction
 from the intervention, using the attached measures.
Participants are parents of children with ASD and anxiety between the ages of 6-10.

 We will recruit 30 families. Recruitment takes place through social media, the Autism Center
 of Hebrew University, lab contacts and community partnerships. Participants are parents of
 young children between the ages of 6-10, where the child has a recognized diagnosis of ASD by
 Ministry of Health, Social Security or Ministry of Education, average (or above) cognition as
 per parent report and communication as measured by ABAS, and anxiety as measured by SCARED.
 Parents of children who have other relevant neurological or medical conditions will be
 excluded. Participants will be asked to provide a copy of the latest diagnosis prior to
 participation. Measures (attached) will be administered prior to the intervention, at the
 conclusion and again 2 months later. Participants will complete questionnaires online
 (Qualtrics). Treatment sessions will be held on ZOOM and certain sessions will be taped for
 supervision purposes.

 The program is designed to reduce child anxiety symptoms, parent stress and family
 accommodation. Parents are likely to gain important skills and experience an increase in
 feelings of self-efficacy. The SPACE program is parent-based and is applicable in cases where
 children are not cooperative, and if proven to be effective in the ASD population, could
 serve not only as an alternative treatment but also as a primary intervention in the context
 of ASD..
Inclusion Criteria ASD Anxiety Symptoms

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Anxiety treatment