Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41774317›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of the Autism Mentorship Program.

Rebekah L Hudock, Meredith Gunlicks-Stoessel, Jinyi Zhang, Haoran Zhou, Anya Congreve, Shayna Williams, Connor Petricek, Emily Goldberg, Jeannette Dempsey Austin, A J Hokland and 2 more

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Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Rebekah L HudockDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA. kale0040@umn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6456-9835
Meredith Gunlicks-StoesselDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5194-113X
Jinyi ZhangInstitute of Child Development, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6697-0884
Haoran ZhouDepartment of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Anya CongreveDepartment of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Shayna WilliamsDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Connor PetricekDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3716-3371
Emily GoldbergAutism Mentorship Program, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Jeannette Dempsey AustinAutism Mentorship Program, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
A J HoklandAutism Mentorship Program, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Lila KhanDepartment of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Lindsey M WeilerDepartment of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0319-9222

Funding

University of Minnesota Catalyst Grant
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWhile mentoring programs have many positive social-emotional outcomes for youth, the benefits of mentoring are not yet well understood for autistic youth, a population that frequently seeks social and mental health supports. The current pilot randomized clinical trial study aims to examine (1) the acceptability of the Autism Mentorship Program (AMP) and (2) the preliminary effectiveness of AMP in improving mentees' well-being and reducing symptoms of mental health problems.

methodsParticipants included 24 autistic youth, 24 caregivers of autistic youth, and 12 autistic adults. Youth (ages 14-18) were randomized to AMP or services-as-usual (SAU), with 13 randomized into AMP. AMP included 23 weekly online mentoring sessions during which autistic mentors and autistic adolescents met in 1-to-1 meetings and discussed topics related to social-emotional learning or shared interests or engaged in an activity of their choosing. Youth, caregivers and autistic mentors completed pre- and post-program assessments related to satisfaction, mental health, and psychosocial outcomes. Analyses focused on descriptive trends and effect sizes due to limited power.

resultsParticipants in AMP reported high program satisfaction and strong mentoring relationships. Compared to youth in SAU, AMP youth showed improvements in self-esteem, satisfaction with self, perceived social support, and engagement, with small to moderate effect sizes. Mentees also reported trends toward reduced anxiety and depression.

conclusionAMP is a feasible, acceptable, and potentially effective identity-affirming program for autistic adolescents. Findings support further evaluation in larger trials to establish its utility as a scalable, community-based mental health support within autistic communities.

Indexed as

AutismMentorshipRandomized controlled trialVirtual mentoring

Identifiers

PMID41774317

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.