Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial of an Executive Functioning Intervention for Children's Mental Health Services
This project aims to follow up on a prior project examining the impact of training therapists in an executive functioning intervention Unstuck and On Target (UOT) adapted for community mental health settings. Study aims are to test the clinical and implementation effectiveness of training mental health therapists in Unstuck and On Target, an executive functioning intervention, relative to Unified Protocol for Children, a transdiagnostic intervention for emotional disorders. This includes examining the implementation of Unstuck and associated outcomes (e.g., effective delivery, expanded use of Unstuck beyond autism, the feasibility of Unstuck) and impact on changes in child executive functioning and behaviors.
‣ Mental Health Programs:
• Publicly-funded
• Providing outpatient or school-based psychotherapy services to children
• Have at least 8 mental health providers on staff
‣ Therapists:
• Employed as staff or trainee at a participating program
• Employed at the program for at least the next 12 months
• Providing psychotherapy services to children
• Has an eligible child on current caseload (see below)
‣ Autistic Child/Caregiver Participants (enrolled in a dyad with a participating therapist):
• Child age 6-12 years
• Receiving services from an enrolled therapist
• Documented or suspected\* autism diagnosis
⁃ In the event of suspected autism diagnosis, the presence of elevated autism symptoms on the Social Responsiveness Scale-2nd Edition or the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale-2nd Edition
‣ Non-Autistic Child/Caregiver Participants (enrolled in a dyad with a participating therapist):
• Child age 6-12 years
• Receiving services from an enrolled provider
• No history of documented or suspected autism diagnosis