ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026
Social Adaptation to Change in Peer Behavior Before and After a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of a Theatre-Based Intervention for Adults With Autism.
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. It is linked to trial NCT04349644 (Enhancing Social Competence in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The trial behind it
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Enhancing Social Competence in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot RCT
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposePsychosocial interventions have been designed for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but most focus on youth. Adaptation to social context was examined before and after a pilot randomized control trial of a theatre-based intervention for autistic adults. Depressive symptom impact on treatment outcomes was also investigated.
methodsSixty-one adults, ages 18–40 years with ASD, randomized to an experimental (EXP, n = 29) or waitlist control (WLC, n = 32) group, participated in a social interaction paradigm (Contextual Assessment of Social Skills; CASS) pre- and post-intervention. Depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory) were examined as a predictor of behavioral change on the CASS post-intervention.
resultsBefore the intervention, adults in the EXP and WLC group had significant behavior adaptation between the Interested and Bored CASS conditions (corrected p < .01). Analysis of covariance of a Social Adaptation Index, controlling for pretest scores, was not significant for group (EXP vs WLC) (F(1,36) = 0.398, p = .532, ηp2 = 0.011) or sex (F(1,36) = 0.160, p = .691, ηp2 = 0.004). Depression and perception of peer behavior were correlated at pretest (r = -.277, p = .032), but pre-intervention depressive symptoms were not predictive of post-intervention behavior, nor was there a depression-by-group interaction (p > .05).
conclusionsThe intervention did not significantly impact social adaptation as measured by behavioral changes across social interaction contexts; however, autistic adults were already able to differentiate social conditions prior to the intervention. The CASS may not be optimal for broadly measuring treatment effects in adults. Paradigms are needed to more comprehensively measure behaviors that may be enhanced following social skills interventions.
trial registrationThe trial was pre-registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT04349644).
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