***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Despite the psychosocial difficulties common among young adults with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) , little to no evidence -based social skills interventions exist for this population . Using a r and omized controlled trial ( RCT ) design , the current study tested the effectiveness of an evidence -based , caregiver-assisted social skills intervention known as PEERS for Young Adults  with high-functioning young adults with ASD ( ages 18–23 ) using self- and caregiver-report measures . Results revealed that treated young adults reported significantly less loneliness and improved social skills knowledge , while caregivers reported significant improvements in young adults ’ overall social skills , social responsiveness , empathy , and frequency of get-togethers . Results support the effectiveness of using this caregiver-assisted , manualized intervention for young adults with ASD BACKGROUND AND AIMS This pilot study tested the efficacy of a developmentally modified CBT for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders ( ASD ) to teach emotion regulation strategies for reducing anger and anxiety , commonly noted problems in this population . METHOD Eleven 5 - 7 year-old children participated in a CBT-group while parents participated in psychoeducation . Children were r and omly assigned to an experimental or delayed-treatment control group . RESULTS From pre- to post-treatment , all children had less parent reported negativity/lability , better parent reported emotion regulation , and shorter outbursts , and also generated more coping strategies in response to vignettes . Parents also reported increases in their own confidence and their child 's ability to deal with anger and anxiety . CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that young children with high functioning ASD may benefit from CBT to improve regulation of anger and anxiety , and parent training may improve parental self-efficacy . Future studies are needed to make conclusions about its efficacy Although melatonin and cognitive-behavioural therapy have shown efficacy in treating sleep disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders , little is known about their relative or combined efficacy . One hundred and sixty children with autism spectrum disorders , aged 4 - 10 years , suffering from sleep onset insomnia and impaired sleep maintenance , were assigned r and omly to either ( 1 ) combination of controlled-release melatonin and cognitive-behavioural therapy ; ( 2 ) controlled-release melatonin ; ( 3 ) four sessions of cognitive-behavioural therapy ; or ( 4 ) placebo drug treatment condition for 12 weeks in a 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 ratio . Children were studied at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment . Treatment response was assessed with 1-week actigraphic monitoring , sleep diary and sleep question naire . Main outcome measures , derived actigraphically , were sleep latency , total sleep time , wake after sleep onset and number of awakenings . The active treatment groups all result ed in improvements across all outcome measures , with moderate-to-large effect sizes from baseline to a 12-week assessment . Melatonin treatment was mainly effective in reducing insomnia symptoms , while cognitive-behavioural therapy had a light positive impact mainly on sleep latency , suggesting that some behavioural aspects might play a role in determining initial insomnia . The combination treatment group showed a trend to outperform other active treatment groups , with fewer dropouts and a greater proportion of treatment responders achieving clinical ly significant changes ( 63.38 % normative sleep efficiency criterion of > 85 % and 84.62 % , sleep onset latency < 30 min ) . This study demonstrates that adding behavioural intervention to melatonin treatment seems to result in a better treatment response , at least in the short term OBJECTIVE Examine the efficacy of a personalized , modular cognitive-behavioral therapy ( CBT ) protocol among early adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders ( ASDs ) and co-occurring anxiety relative to treatment as usual ( TAU ) . METHOD Thirty-one children ( 11 - 16 years ) with ASD and clinical ly significant anxiety were r and omly assigned to receive 16 weekly CBT sessions or an equivalent duration of TAU . Participants were assessed by blinded raters at screening , posttreatment , and 1-month follow-up . RESULTS Youth r and omized to CBT demonstrated superior improvement across primary outcomes relative to those receiving TAU . Eleven of 16 adolescents r and omized to CBT were treatment responders , versus 4 of 15 in the TAU condition . Gains were maintained at 1-month follow-up for CBT responders . CONCLUSIONS These data extend findings of the promising effects of CBT in anxious youth with ASD to early adolescents Aim : To investigate the acceptability and feasibility of adapted group therapy for anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder in a pilot r and omised controlled trial . Method : A total of 32 children aged 9–13 years were r and omised to immediate or delayed therapy using the ‘ Exploring Feelings ’ manual ( Attwood , 2004 ) . Child and parent groups were run in parallel , for seven weekly sessions , under the supervision of experienced psychologists . The primary blinded outcome measures addressed change in overall functioning and in severity of the primary anxiety diagnosis after 3 months . Results : Children met diagnostic criteria for 1–6 anxiety disorders ( median 3 ) . At end point , both parents and children in the immediate therapy group were more likely to report a reduction in anxiety symptoms . Fidelity of delivery of the group therapy was high , and attendance was 91 % . Conclusions : This pilot trial established that children and families were willing to be recruited and r and omised , the outcome measures were acceptable , the format and content of the groups were feasible within UK child and adolescent mental health services , the intervention was appreciated by families and attrition was very small BACKGROUND The study aim ed to investigate the effectiveness of a new multi-component social skills intervention for children with Asperger syndrome ( AS ) : The Junior Detective Training Program . This 7-week program included a computer game , small group sessions , parent training sessions and teacher h and outs . METHOD Forty-nine children with AS were recruited to participate and r and omly assigned to intervention ( n = 26 ) or wait-list control ( n = 23 ) conditions . RESULTS Relative to children in the wait-list group , program participants showed greater improvements in social skills over the course of the intervention , as indicated by parent-report measures . Teacher-report data also confirmed that children receiving the intervention made significant improvements in social functioning from pre- to post-treatment . Treatment group participants were better able to suggest appropriate emotion-management strategies for story characters at post-intervention than at pre-intervention , whereas control participants were not . However , there was no difference in the improvements made by children in the intervention and control conditions on facial expression and body-posture recognition measures . Follow-up data suggested that treatment gains were maintained by children at 5-months post-intervention . CONCLUSIONS The Junior Detective Training Program appeared to be effective in enhancing the social skills and emotional underst and ing of children with AS . Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed Background Although social skills training programs for people with high-functioning autism ( HFA ) are widely practice d , the st and ardization of curricula , the examination of clinical effectiveness , and the evaluation of the feasibility of future trials have yet to be done in Asian countries . To compensate for this problem , a Japanese pilot r and omized controlled trial ( RCT ) of the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication H and icapped Children (TEACCH)-based group social skills training for children with HFA and their mothers was conducted . Methods Eleven children with HFA , aged 5–6 years , and their mothers were r and omly assigned to the TEACCH program ( n=5 ) or a waiting-list control group ( n=6 ) . The program involved comprehensive group intervention and featured weekly 2-hour sessions , totaling 20 sessions over six months . The adaptive behaviors and social reciprocity of the children , parenting stress , and parent – child interactions were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Question naire ( SDQ ) , Parenting Stress Index ( PSI ) , Beck depression inventory-II ( BDI-II ) , and Interaction Rating Scale ( IRS ) . Results Through this pilot trial , the intervention and evaluation of the program has been shaped . There were no dropouts from the program and the mothers ’ satisfaction was high . The outcome measurements improved more in the program group than in the control group , with moderate effect sizes ( SDQ , 0.71 ; PSI , 0.58 ; BDI-II , 0.40 ; and IRS , 0.69 ) . This pilot trial also implied that this program is more beneficial for high IQ children and mothers with low stress than for those who are not . Conclusion We have st and ardized the TEACCH program , confirmed the feasibility of a future trial , and successfully estimated the positive effect size . These findings will contribute to a larger trial in the future and to forthcoming systematic review s with meta-analyses . Trial registration Background There is a growing interest in using cognitive – behavioural therapy ( CBT ) with people who have Asperger syndrome and comorbid mental health problems . Aims To examine whether modified group CBT for clinical ly significant anxiety in an Asperger syndrome population is feasible and likely to be efficacious . Method Using a r and omised assessor-blind trial , 52 individuals with Asperger syndrome were r and omised into a treatment arm or a waiting-list control arm . After 24 weeks , those in the waiting-list control arm received treatment , while those initially r and omised to treatment were followed up for 24 weeks . Results The conversion rate for this trial was high ( 1.6:1 ) , while attrition was 13 % . After 24 weeks , there was no significant difference between those r and omised to the treatment arm compared with those r and omised to the waiting-list control arm on the primary outcome measure , the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety . Conclusions Trials of psychological therapies with this population are feasible . Larger definitive trials are now needed . Declaration of interest None . Copyright and usage © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016 . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution ( CC BY ) licence This study examined the relationship between therapist factors and child outcomes in anxious youth who received cognitive-behavioral therapy ( CBT ) as part of the Child-Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study ( CAMS ) . Of the 488 youth who participated in the CAMS project , 279 were r and omly assigned to one of the CBT conditions  ( CBT only or CBT plus sertraline )  . Participants included youth ( ages 7 - 17 ; M = 10.76 ) who met criteria for a principal anxiety disorder . Therapists included 38 cognitive-behavioral therapists .  Therapist style , treatment integrity , and therapist experience were examined in relation to child outcome . Child outcome was measured via child , parent , and independent evaluator report . Therapists who were more collaborative and empathic , followed the treatment manual , and implemented it in a developmentally appropriate way had youth with better treatment outcomes . Therapist " coach " style was a significant predictor of child-reported outcome , with the collaborative " coach " style predicting fewer child-reported symptoms . Higher levels of therapist prior clinical experience and lower levels of prior anxiety-specific experience were significant predictors of better treatment outcome . Findings suggest that although all therapists used the same manual-guided treatment , therapist style , experience , and clinical skills were related to differences in child outcome . Clinical implication s and recommendations for future research are discussed Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders ( ASD ) participate in social skills or Theory of Mind ( ToM ) treatments . However , few studies have shown evidence for their effectiveness . The current study used a r and omized controlled design to test the effectiveness of a 16-week ToM treatment in 8–13 year old children with ASD and normal IQs ( n = 40 ) . The results showed that , compared to controls , the treated children with ASD improved in their conceptual ToM skills , but their elementary underst and ing , self reported empathic skills or parent reported social behaviour did not improve . Despite the effects on conceptual underst and ing , the current study does not indicate strong evidence for the effectiveness of a ToM treatment on the daily life mindreading skills A r and omized controlled design was employed to evaluate a social skills intervention for children with pervasive developmental disorders . Aims included evaluating the acceptability of the program and gathering preliminary evidence on efficacy . Forty-four children , ages 8–11 years , were r and omly assigned to  treatment or wait list . Treatment consisted of a 16-week group intervention design ed to teach appropriate social behavior . Between group comparisons showed that children in treatment were rated as improved on the primary outcome measure , ( unblinded parent report ) , but not on the secondary outcome measure , a parent question naire . Parents reported a high level of satisfaction with the intervention . The study supports the feasibility of this intervention to families and highlights challenges for future research in social skills intervention OBJECTIVE This study explores the relationships between therapist variables ( cognitive behavioral therapy [ CBT ] competence , and CBT adherence ) and clinical outcomes of computer-assisted CBT for anxiety disorders delivered by novice therapists in a primary care setting . METHODS Participants were recruited for a r and omized controlled trial of evidence -based treatment , including computer-assisted CBT , versus treatment as usual .  Therapists ( anxiety clinical specialists ; ACSs ) were nonexpert clinicians , many of whom had no prior experience in delivering psychotherapy ( and in particular , very little experience with CBT ) . Trained raters review ed r and omly selected treatment sessions from 176 participants and rated therapists on measures of CBT competence and CBT adherence . Patients were assessed at baseline and at 6- , 12- , and 18-month follow-ups on measures of anxiety , depression , and functioning , and an average Reliable Change Index was calculated as a composite measure of outcome . CBT competence and CBT adherence were entered as 
    Output:
    
Definitive trials are needed to demonstrate that CBT is an empirically vali date d treatment for use with people who have ASDs