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Lookup NU author(s): Emerita Professor Jacqueline Rodgers, Rebecca Eaton
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 The Author(s). JCPP Advances published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Background: Young children diagnosed with autism experience high rates of co-occurring anxiety, with uncertainty-related concerns commonly reported. This randomized controlled trial investigated an 8-week parent-mediated group anxiety intervention, “Coping with Uncertainty in Everyday Situations” (CUES-Junior©). Methods: Parents of 4–7-year-old children diagnosed with autism and experiencing uncertainty-related anxiety were recruited. The primary outcome was change from baseline in blinded assessor ratings of child responses to uncertainty and impact on family, measured post-intervention and 2-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes were parent-reported child anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty (IU), parental IU and mental health, parenting sense of competence, along with intervention feasibility and acceptability. Results: Sixty-four children were randomized to CUES-Junior© (n = 33) or waitlist (n = 31); five families withdrew post-randomization. Immediately post-intervention, significantly more CUES-Junior© participants were rated as clinically improved from baseline in child responses to uncertainty (OR = 34.48; 95% CI = 1.72–690.04, p = 0.02) and in family impact (OR = 8.99; 95% CI = 1.52–53.05, p = 0.02) compared to waitlist. Significant improvements were also observed in parent-reported child IU and parenting satisfaction, favoring CUES-Junior©. At subsequent 2-month follow-up, CUES-Junior© participants showed sustained improvements in the impact of uncertainty on children, and parental ratings of child IU and anxiety, parenting sense of competence, and parental stress, compared to baseline. The program was feasible to administer and acceptable to parents. Conclusions: CUES-Junior© had an immediate treatment effect on child responses to uncertain situations and impact on families, with maintained improvements observed at follow-up. This novel mechanism-targeted and autism-informed program holds promise for addressing early uncertainty-related anxiety in young children diagnosed with autism.
Author(s): Ong CSY, Rodgers J, Cooper MN, Dempsey Z, Eaton R, Haines K, Kuzminski R, Magiati I, Maybery MT, Uljarevic M, Wray J, Whitehouse AJO, Alvares GA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: JCPP Advances
Year: 2025
Pages: Epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 26/06/2025
Acceptance date: 06/04/2025
Date deposited: 10/07/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2692-9384
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.70027
DOI: 10.1002/jcv2.70027
Data Access Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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