Thinking flexibly: A cognitive remediation therapy-informed intervention for autistic youth.
Jasmin Dipre, Lauren Burton, Kate Tchanturia and 1 others
PMID 41474110WHAT IT FOUND
Youth reported improved flexibility and reduced anxiety and depression after eight sessions of adapted cognitive remediation therapy.
Parents did not report significant changes. High retention suggests the approach is acceptable to autistic adolescents.
Key findings
01Self- and parent-reported cognitive inflexibility significantly decreased post-intervention.
02Self-reported anxiety, depression, and functional impairment decreased, but parent-reported scores for these outcomes did not show significant change.
03The intervention had a 95% completion rate with high session attendance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Single-arm design with no control group, so changes cannot be definitively attributed to the intervention. Small sample size (n=20) limits statistical power and generalisability. Lack of follow-up data means it is unknown if gains were maintained. Parent-reported outcomes for mental health did not show significant improvement, creating uncertainty about observable clinical change. Participants were recruited from waiting lists, which may affect the severity profile compared to the general autistic population.
Declared interests
Funded by the MRC IAA 2021 Kings College London. Authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this intervention is proven effective for reducing anxiety and depression. The study was a small, uncontrolled pilot where parent-reported mental health outcomes did not change significantly, and the primary finding was acceptability rather than efficacy.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →