Online training to improve communicative skills in autistic adolescents
ISRCTN | ISRCTN98165642 |
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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
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
Scientific, Principal investigator
Via verdi, 10
Torino
10124
Italy
0000-0001-6101-8587 | |
Phone | +39 11 6703058 |
francesca.bosco@unito.it |
Public, Scientific
Via Sant’Ottavio, 20
Torino
10124
Italy
0000-0002-9724-8066 | |
Phone | +39 11 670 3243 |
ilaria.gabbatore@unito.it |
Public, Scientific
Via Verdi, 10
Torino
10124
Italy
0000-0002-5030-151X | |
Phone | +39 116703065 |
ilaria.traetta@unito.it |
Study information
Study design | Interventional randomized parallel trial |
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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 |
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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
Alba
12051
Italy
Mondovì
12084
Italy
Sponsor information
University/education
Via verdi 10
Turin
10124
Italy
Phone | +39 11 6703400 |
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direzione.psicologia@unito.it | |
Website | https://www.unito.it |
https://ror.org/048tbm396 |
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
- Alternative name(s)
- CRT Foundation
- Location
- Italy
Results and Publications
Intention to publish date | |
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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.