Online training to improve communicative skills in autistic adolescents

ISRCTN	ISRCTN98165642
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN98165642

Submission date: 29/07/2025
Registration date: 03/10/2025
Last edited: 07/10/2025

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Ongoing
Condition category: Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition that affects how people communicate and interact with others. Many autistic teenagers find it difficult to use language and other ways of expressing themselves, like gestures or facial expressions, in social situations. These skills are known as pragmatic communication. Although these skills are important, there are very few training programs that help autistic teenagers improve them. Even fewer are available online, which would make them easier to access. This study aims to test an online version of a training program called Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment, or @CPT, to see if it helps autistic teenagers improve their communication skills and whether it is practical to use.

Who can participate?
Teenagers aged 12 to 18 who have been diagnosed with autism by a qualified clinician, can speak Italian as their first language, and have basic language skills can take part in the study.

What does the study involve?
Participants are divided into two groups. One group receives the @CPT training online in small groups, with 15 weekly sessions lasting two hours each. The other group continues with their usual face-to-face therapy. Researchers assess participants before the training, after it ends, and again three months later to see if there are any changes in their communication skills.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Taking part in the study may help improve communication skills in social situations. There are no known major risks, but as with any training program, some participants might find certain tasks challenging or tiring.

Where is the study run from?
University of Turin (Italy)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2022 to January 2026.

Who is funding the study?
The study is funded by Fondazione CRT (Italy)

Who is the main contact?
Prof Francesca Bosco, francesca.bosco@unito.it
Dr Ilaria Gabbatore, ilaria.gabbatore@unito.it
Dr Ilaria Traetta, ilaria.traetta@unito.it

Contact information

Prof Francesca M. Bosco
Scientific, Principal investigator

Via verdi, 10
Torino
10124
Italy

ORCID ID	0000-0001-6101-8587
Phone	+39 11 6703058
Email	francesca.bosco@unito.it

Dr Ilaria Gabbatore
Public, Scientific

Via Sant’Ottavio, 20
Torino
10124
Italy

ORCID ID	0000-0002-9724-8066
Phone	+39 11 670 3243
Email	ilaria.gabbatore@unito.it

Dr Ilaria Traetta
Public, Scientific

Via Verdi, 10
Torino
10124
Italy

ORCID ID	0000-0002-5030-151X
Phone	+39 116703065
Email	ilaria.traetta@unito.it

Study information

Study design	Interventional randomized parallel trial
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Randomised parallel trial
Study setting(s)	Internet/virtual, Other
Study type	Treatment, Efficacy
Participant information sheet	Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet.
Scientific title	Effectiveness of Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment in telehealth (@CPT) compared to Treatment-as-Usual (TAU) in improving pragmatic communication skills in autistic adolescents
Study acronym	@CPT
Study objectives	1. To present the adapted version of the Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment for adolescents (A-CPT) for telepractice use (@CPT) 2. To evaluate the effectiveness of @CPT and the stability of pragmatic improvements at three-month follow-up 3. To rule out spontaneous improvement by comparing the @CPT group with a control group receiving treatment as usual (TAU) 4. To assess the specificity of @CPT by evaluating cognitive and ToM skills, expecting no changes in these domains
Ethics approval(s)	Approved 24/01/2023, Bioethics Committee of the University of Turin (Via Bogino, 9, Turin, 10123, Italy; +39 670 4394; staff.cba@unito.it), ref: 0059806
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Communicative-pragmatic difficulties in adolescents on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Intervention	Interventional study with two groups: an experimental group received the Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment adapted for telepractice (@CPT), delivered in 15 group sessions (2 hours each, once a week) via videoconferencing platforms over approximately three months, while a control group received Treatment-as-Usual (TAU) in face-to-face clinical rehabilitation centers. Assessments were conducted at pre-, post-, and three-month follow-up.
Intervention type	Behavioural
Primary outcome measure	Pragmatic-communication ability is measured using the equivalent forms of the Assessment Battery for Communication (ABaCo) at baseline (pre-training), immediately after the intervention (post-training), and at three-month follow-up.
Secondary outcome measures	A range of cognitive abilities (i.e., planning, cognitive flexibility, memory, attention, expressive vocabulary and language comprehension) is assessed at baseline and post-treatment using subtests from the BVN 12–18 battery (Gugliotta et al., 2009) together with Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks
Overall study start date	01/01/2022
Completion date	01/02/2026

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Patient, Population
Age group	Child
Lower age limit	12 Years
Upper age limit	18 Years
Sex	All
Target number of participants	30 participants (both from the experimental and control group)
Key inclusion criteria	1. Diagnosis of verbally fluent ASD certified by qualified clinicians using the DSM-5 guidelines 2. Age between 12-18 years 3. Native Italian speakers 4. Basic language abilities assessed by the language comprehension subtask of the BVN 12-18, namely the Token Test
Key exclusion criteria	1. Previous history of brain injury or neurological disorder 2. Concurrent participation in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) or other communicative rehabilitation programs
Date of first enrolment	01/02/2023
Date of final enrolment	01/02/2025

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Italy

Study participating centres

Centro di Riabilitazione Ferrero

Via Edmondo de Amicis, 16, Alba CN
Alba
12051
Italy

Centro Autismo e Sindrome di Asperger ASL CN1

Via San Rocchetto 99.
Mondovì
12084
Italy

Sponsor information

University of Turin
University/education

Via verdi 10
Turin
10124
Italy

Phone	+39 11 6703400
Email	direzione.psicologia@unito.it
Website	https://www.unito.it
"ROR"	https://ror.org/048tbm396

Funders

Funder type

Charity

Fondazione CRT
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)

Alternative name(s): CRT Foundation
Location: Italy

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	Yes
IPD sharing plan summary	Available on request, Not expected to be made available
Publication and dissemination plan	Planned pubblication in a peer-reviewed journal
IPD sharing plan	The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available due to privacy or ethical restrictions; however, data will be available from the corresponding author (ilaria.gabbatore@unito.it) on reasonable request.

Editorial Notes

04/08/2025: Trial's existence confirmed by Bioethics Committee of the University of Turin.