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Behavioural Intervention

Therapeutic Horseback Riding for Autism Spectrum Disorder

N/A

Waitlist Available

Led By Robin L Gabriels, Psy.D.

Research Sponsored by University of Colorado, Denver

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be younger than 18 years old

Must not have

Participants weighing 200 pounds or greater will be excluded due to the riding center's safety policies

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up baseline, week 10, 6 months

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial will help assess how effective therapeutic horseback riding is for kids with ASD, especially those with co-occurring psychiatric disorders.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for youths with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who also have a psychiatric condition like mood, anxiety, or ADHD. They must score above certain thresholds on specific ASD and irritability tests and cannot be experienced riders or weigh over 200 pounds due to safety policies.

What is being tested?

The study is testing the effects of Therapeutic Horseback Riding (THR) on ASD youth with additional mental health issues. It's a randomized control trial that will look into how THR helps these individuals and which specific groups benefit most from it.

What are the potential side effects?

While not explicitly listed, potential side effects may include physical discomfort from riding, allergic reactions to animals or dust in the barn environment, and emotional distress if there are challenges during the intervention.

Eligibility Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

You may be eligible for the trial if you check “No” for criteria below:

Select...

I weigh less than 200 pounds.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ baseline, week 10, 6 months

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~baseline, week 10, 6 months

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and baseline, week 10, 6 months for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Change in Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C)

Change in Crisis Mental Health Care Usage Survey

Change in Emotion Dysregulation Inventory (EDI)

+3 more

Other study objectives

Change in Electrodermal Activity

Change in Heart Rate/Heart Rate Variability

Change in Salivary Cortisol

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

4Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: Therapeutic Horseback RidingExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

This Arm is a 10 week one hour small group (2-4 participants) led by a THR instructor. The group will include a 45-minute mounted activity to learn horsemanship skills as outlined in the study's THR manual, . Group times will be between 1:00-5:00 PM to collect salivary cortisol. Weekly, participants will follow a consistent routine of wearing both their electro dermal activity and heart rate monitoring devices, sit at a group art table before class, after this, study personnel will instruct participants to place the 10cm long foam swab rod under their tongue for one minute while watching a 1-minute timer. Participants will then don their riding helmets and enter the riding arena. Each week after conclusion of the THR intervention, participants will again sit with their group at an art table for 5 minutes followed by doing another saliva sample.

Group II: HybridExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Participants completing the Wait list Arm and post assessments, will begin a Hybrid group between 1:00-5:00 PM. The group consists of a 5- week 1 -hour BA small group (2-4 participants) led by a THR instructor and co-led by a mental health counselor or OT. Participants will have one assigned volunteer and have no physical contact with horses at the riding center, just view horses at a distance. There will be a life-sized stuffed horse for hands-on learning weekly topics per BA study manual. Group. Then, participants will complete 5-weeks of Therapeutic Horseback Riding small group (2-4 participants) led by a THR instructor. The group will include a 45-minute mounted activity to learn horsemanship skills followed by a 15-minute unmounted horse grooming and tacking activity per THR manual. Participants will have an assigned horse and volunteer(s).

Group III: Barn ActivityActive Control1 Intervention

This Arm is a 10 week one hour small group (2-4 participants) led by a THR instructor and co-led by a mental health or Occupational therapy provider. Participants will have one assigned volunteer and will have no physical contact with horses at the riding center, just view horses from a distance. There will be a life-sized stuffed toy horse for hands-on learning related to the weekly topic per the BA study manual. Group times will be between 1:00-5:00 PM to collect salivary cortisol. Weekly, participants will follow a consistent routine of wearing both their electro dermal activity and heart rate monitoring devices, sit at a group art table before class, after this, study personnel will instruct participants to place the 10cm long foam swab rod under their tongue for one minute while watching a 1-minute timer. Each week after conclusion of the BA intervention, participants will again sit with their group at an art table for 5 minutes followed by doing another saliva sample.

Group IV: WaitlistActive Control1 Intervention

Those assigned to the waitlist group will not have any horse-related intervention during a 10-week waiting period. Following this waiting period and the completion of post assessments, participants in this condition will begin a Hybrid group (see Hybrid Arm)

0 / 1Eligibility criteria met