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A randomized clinical trial of a virtual‐training program for teaching applied‐behavior‐analysis skills to parents of children with autism spectrum disorder
Author(s) -
Fisher Wayne W.,
Luczynski Kevin C.,
Blowers Andrew P.,
Vosters Megan E.,
Pisman Maegan D.,
Craig Andy R.,
Hood Stephanie A.,
Machado Mychal A.,
Lesser Aaron D.,
Piazza Cathleen C.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1002/jaba.778
Subject(s) - autism spectrum disorder , psychology , autism , applied behavior analysis , randomized controlled trial , psychological intervention , clinical psychology , parent training , social skills , the internet , developmental psychology , intervention (counseling) , psychiatry , medicine , surgery , world wide web , computer science
Parents play an important role in the treatment of their children's symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); thus, developing effective, efficient, socially acceptable, and accessible procedures for training parents to implement applied‐behavior‐analysis (ABA) interventions is critically important. One potential approach involves delivering training via a virtual private network (VPN) over the internet (Fisher et al., 2014). In this study, we conducted a randomized clinical trial to evaluate a virtual parent‐training program with e‐learning modules and scripted role‐play via a VPN. We evaluated parent implementation of ABA skills using direct‐observation measures in structured‐work and play‐based training contexts. Parents in the treatment group showed large, statistically significant improvements on all dependent measures; those in the waitlist‐control group did not. Parents rated the training as highly socially acceptable. Results add to the growing literature on the efficacy and acceptability of virtually delivered training in ABA.