A randomized clinical trial of a virtual‐training program for teaching applied‐behavior‐analysis skills to parents of children with autism spectrum disorder
Abstract
Parents play an important role in the treatment of their children's symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); thus, developing effective, efficient, socially acceptable, and accessible procedures for training parents to implement applied‐behavior‐analysis (ABA) interventions is critically important. One potential approach involves delivering training via a virtual private network (VPN) over the internet (Fisher et al., 2014). In this study, we conducted a randomized clinical trial to evaluate a virtual parent‐training program with e‐learning modules and scripted role‐play via a VPN. We evaluated parent implementation of ABA skills using direct‐observation measures in structured‐work and play‐based training contexts. Parents in the treatment group showed large, statistically significant improvements on all dependent measures; those in the waitlist‐control group did not. Parents rated the training as highly socially acceptable. Results add to the growing literature on the efficacy and acceptability of virtually delivered training in ABA.
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Within this literature, researchers evaluated the accuracy of two training procedures: the trainer's behavior during different components of the training program or the confederate's script-following during rehearsal.
“Within this literature, researchers evaluated the accuracy of two training procedures: (a) the trainer's behavior during different components of the training program (e.g., Clayton & Headley, 2019) or (b) the confederate's script-following during rehearsal (e.g., Fisher et al., 2020).”
From Training individuals to implement discrete‐trial teaching procedures using behavioral skills training: A scoping review with implications for practice and research (2024) · cites this paper as Fisher et al., 2020
Of the studies using a between-groups design, two conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving technicians or parents who were paired based on performance in a pretest and then randomly assigned to either a treatment or waitlist control group.
“Of the studies using a between-groups design, two conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving technicians or parents who were paired based on performance in a pretest and then randomly assigned to either a treatment or waitlist control group (Fisher et al., 2014(Fisher et al., , 2020)).”
From Training individuals to implement discrete‐trial teaching procedures using behavioral skills training: A scoping review with implications for practice and research (2024) · cites this paper as Fisher et al., 2020
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Ellison, K. S., Guidry, J., Picou, P., Adenuga, P., & Davis, T. E. (2021) · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10567-021-00358-0 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Fisher, W. W., Luczynski, K. C., Blowers, A. P., Vosters, M. E., Pisman, M. D., Craig, A. R., Hood, S. A., Machado, M. A., Lesser, A. D., & Piazza, C. C.
- Affiliations
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of Nebraska Medical Center (US)
- University of Houston - Clear Lake (US)
- Upstate Medical Center
- Marquette University (US)
- University of Alaska Anchorage (US)
- Corresponding author
- Fisher, Wayne W.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-09
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1856-1875
- ISSN
- 0021-8855 (ISSN-L)
- 1938-3703
- OpenAlex
- W3089340508
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 16.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- e-Publications@Marquette (Marquette University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, applied behavior analysis, parent training, online training, online learning, online intervention, parent-mediated intervention, treatment acceptability, children with autism
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Applied Behavior Analysis, Adult, Child, Female, Humans, Learning, Male, Middle Aged, Parents
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