Treating Anxiety in Adolescents with ASD
July 20, 2009 by Abby
Filed under Adolescents, Research
From: http://anxietyagoraphobia.info
In a pilot study by Susan W. White, Thomas Ollendick, Lawrence Scahill, Donald Oswald and Anne Marie Albano, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, the authors were evaluating the efficacy of a modified cognitive-behavioral treatment program to address anxiety and social skills in adolescents with ASD. Prior to treatment the participants were evaluated to assess their specific anxiety-related characteristics. They all had anxiety around social interactions and each had another form of clinically diagnosable anxiety disorders (i.e. generalized anxiety disorder, specific triggers, etc.). The treatment included individual sessions to address specific anxiety disorders, parent education and group social skills training. They found significant decreases in anxiety post-treatment and increases in social motivation in most participant (3 out of 4). The improvements were maintained at a 6-month follow up for 2 of the 4 participants. Read the full study here.
This article got me thinking about anxiety, how it is typically treated and how this research may impact future treatment options. For many people with autism spectrum disorders, anxiety also impacts their lives. This could be anxiety around social situations, specific triggers (i.e. storms, heights, etc.), obsessive compulsive disorders, generalized anxiety, etc. Some are treated with medication, some have behavioral interventions to address their anxiety reactions and some are left untreated. As children reach adolescence anxiety can potentially be heightened by increased awareness of social/communication issues and/or the addition of hormones into the equation. Many times the symptoms of anxiety are treated with medication or by teaching coping skills. Unfortunately, anxiety treatments used for the general population (i.e. cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT) have been under-utilized. Although medications, teaching coping skills and social skills are viable treatment options, the use of CBT may be an additional tool for the treatment of anxiety in adolescents with ASD. All forms of CBT are typically used by psychologists or psychiatrists to treat a variety of mood and behavior disorders, so it will be interesting to see where this line of research leads. I will keep you all updated when more research is published regarding the treatment of anxiety in adolescents with ASD.
Please comment on this post regarding the following:
1. How have you treated anxiety in your child/student with ASD?
2. Are you having problems at home with anxiety? Share your story here and hopefully someone from the community can help.
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Hello,
My son flunked out of 8th grade and developed alot of anxiety that year due to attitude and deep-seated beliefs about hidden disabilities … everything my son did was a “character issue,” purposeful misbehavior, etc. It got to the point where teachers intimidatd him in the hallway, tape was placed upon it desk to isolate/seperate him from his peers, students were told not to speak to him, and more …. Needless to say, he is not there now. The following year he tested into and entered into an early college program. He did great during the summer (B+ average) when classes were smaller and the campus and tutoring center was less active. I provided all supports, including Assistive Technology. Fall quarter I tried to provide the supports but couldn’t always be there due to other committments. Although the college disabilities office head is nice there is little underestanding of the supports needed. He made it half way through the term with A’s/B’s and one F in an area he has little control over…. three events that “triggered” anxiety to the point that he has refused to go to school. Any activity now involving school causes behaviors to skyrocket. (He’s never done this before.) He’s now getting counseling from a psych using CBT but he doesn’t think he needs the counseling and has pretty much refused to cooperate …I would love ideas. (He’s also mighty depressed and there seems to be alot of pent up anger but he could never tell you that.)