Trial reportAutism : the international journal of research and practice2020
The feasibility of low-intensity psychological therapy for depression co-occurring with autism in adults: The Autism Depression Trial (ADEPT) - a pilot randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A scoping review of the relationship between autistic traits and eating disorders: exploring the secondary impact of eating disorders and co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Understanding Mechanisms that Maintain Social Anxiety Disorder in Autistic Individuals Through the Clark and Wells (1995) Model and Beyond: A Systematic Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- A Pilot Randomised Control Trial Exploring the Feasibility and Acceptability of Delivering a Personalised Modular Psychological Intervention for Anxiety Experienced by Autistic Adults: Personalised Anxiety Treatment-Autism (PAT-A).Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Trial
- Alexithymia, Inner Thinking Patterns, and Perceptions of Mental Health Therapy Strategies Among Autistic Adults.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Thinking flexibly: A cognitive remediation therapy-informed intervention for autistic youth.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2026Article
- The Assessment and Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Autistic People: A Systematic Review.Review journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Review
- 'Sometimes I'm feeling baffled and they're probably feeling baffled': On the experiences of psychological therapists working with autistic people in a structured primary care service for anxiety disorders and depression.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2025Article
- Measurement of Anxiety and Depression Among Autistic Adults: Concordance Between Diagnostic and Screening Instruments in a Feasibility Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Insistence on sameness, repetitive negative thinking and mental health in autistic and non-autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2025Article
- Inner experiences, mental health, and well-being in autistic and non-autistic adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2024Article
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- Article
- Approaches to improving mental healthcare for autistic people: systematic review.BJPsych open · 2024Review
- Co-designing behavioural activation for depression for autistic adolescents: A case series.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2024Article
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- A blind spot in mental healthcare? Psychotherapists lack education and expertise for the support of adults on the autism spectrum.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2022Article
- Adults with Autism: Changes in Understanding Since DSM-111.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedErratum.2020
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy including behavioural activation is an evidence-based treatment for depression, a condition frequently co-occurring with autism. The feasibility of adapting low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy for depression to meet the needs of autistic adults via a randomised controlled trial was investigated. The adapted intervention (guided self-help) comprised materials for nine individual sessions with a low-intensity psychological therapist. Autistic adults (n = 70) with depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ⩾10) recruited from National Health Service adult autism services and research cohorts were randomly allocated to guided self-help or treatment as usual. Outcomes at 10-, 16- and 24-weeks post-randomisation were blind to treatment group. Rates of retention in the study differed by treatment group with more participants attending follow-up in the guided self-help group than treatment as usual. The adapted intervention was well-received, 86% (n = 30/35) of participants attended the pre-defined 'dose' of five sessions of treatment and 71% (25/35) attended all treatment sessions. The findings of this pilot randomised controlled trial indicate that low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy informed by behavioural activation can be successfully adapted to meet the needs of autistic people. Evaluation of the effectiveness of this intervention in a full scale randomised controlled trial is now warranted.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.