Caregiver Satisfaction with Anxiety Treatment for Autistic Youth: A Mixed Methods Examination.

This was a randomised controlled trial — people were assigned to treatments by chance, which is the most reliable way to tell whether a treatment itself caused a change.

It involved 148 people, a reasonably sized group for this kind of research.

The abstract does not include a conclusions section, so this page does not state what the researchers concluded.

This record does not state:

• how long the study ran

This is a plain-language summary of one paper's abstract, not medical advice. Talk to your child's clinician before changing anything.

Journal: Journal of autism and developmental disorders

Year: 2026

Design: Randomized Controlled Trial

Participants: 148

Age range: 7-13 years

Intervention: Cognitive behavioral therapy

Co-occurring conditions: Anxiety Disorders

Authors: Lesley A Norris, Jonathan C Rabner, Marika Marklin, Margaret E Crane, Kathrin Renschler, Emma Jenkins, Joshua Kemp, Eric A Storch, Jeffrey J Wood, Connor M Kerns, Adam B Lewin, Brent J Small, Philip C Kendall

For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to best meet the specific needs of autistic youth with co-occurring anxiety and to continue to grow as a sustainable treatment option, it is important to incorporate caregiver perspectives and feedback. Data were drawn from a randomized controlled trial and included 148 caregivers of autistic youth (ages 7-13 years, M = 9.89, SD = 1.79; 23% female; 77.7% White) with co-occurring anxiety disorders randomized to one of two active treatment conditions (Coping Cat, n = 72, or Behavioral Interventions for Anxiety in Children with Autism [BIACA], n = 76). A systematic inductive thematic analysis was used to code open-ended parent responses on the Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire to identify what caregivers of autistic children with co-occurring anxiety liked most and least about their child's treatment. Satisfaction with treatment was high (M = 64.98, SD = 5.48). Caregivers' most-liked treatment features across treatments included (a) tools and coping skills, (b) therapeutic alliance, (c) caregiver support and involvement, (d) personalized treatment, and (e) treatment efficacy. Least-liked features of treatment and family participation included (a) the commute to the clinic, (b) treatment length, (c) commitment required at home, (d) questionnaires, and (e) scheduling. Treatment responders endorsed therapeutic alliance more frequently. Caregivers in BIACA endorsed caregiver support and involvement at higher rates, in addition to commitment required at home. Caregiver responses indicated a preference for more sessions and highlighted the importance of balancing need for caregiver involvement in treatment while reducing caregiver burden.

Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026

PMID 39930281

DOI 10.1007/s10803-025-06725-y

This record was extracted from the paper's PubMed abstract and metadata. Full-text methods and risk-of-bias details were not reviewed.