ERIC Number: EJ1466613
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1866-2625
EISSN: EISSN-1866-2633
Available Date: 2024-11-25
All Hands on Deck: Training Mental Health and Non-Mental Health School Providers to Deliver a CBT Anxiety Intervention for Students on the Autism Spectrum
Lisa Hayutin1; Caitlin Middleton1; Lisa Yankowitz2; Richard Boles1; Audrey Blakeley-Smith3; Allison T. Meyer1; Katherine Pickard4; Nuri Reyes1; Aubyn C. Stahmer5; Judy Reaven3
School Mental Health, v17 n1 p289-300 2025
Autistic youth are at high risk for increased anxiety. Access to mental health care is challenging, particularly for youth from diverse communities. Facing Your Fears in Schools (FYF-S) is a manualized group CBT intervention to manage anxiety in autistic students and can be delivered by interdisciplinary school providers (ISPs). Training mental health (MH) and non-mental health (non-MH) providers to deliver FYF-S may increase the capacity to meet the mental health needs of autistic students. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were differences in knowledge and perceptions among MH versus non-MH providers. Seventy-seven ISPs participated in a FYF-S training. CBT knowledge was measured pre- and post-training; readiness to deliver FYF-S was measured post-training. ISPs delivered FYF-S to 39 students with autism or suspected autism and anxiety. Post-intervention, ISPs rated program acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility. Although there were significant differences in CBT knowledge pre-training, MH and non-MH providers showed significant improvements in CBT knowledge post-training. Providers did not significantly differ in knowledge nor readiness to deliver FYF-S. Post-intervention, MH and non-MH providers did not demonstrate significant differences in program acceptability, appropriateness, or feasibility. Preliminary qualitative comparison of intervention groups with a MH provider and those led by non-MH providers did not reveal differences in FYF-S fidelity or student anxiety outcomes. This study provides encouraging evidence that training ISPs to deliver a manualized CBT intervention may be a promising approach to increasing access to much-needed MH services for autistic youth.
Descriptors: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Students with Disabilities, Anxiety, Intervention, Mental Health, Mental Health Workers, School Personnel, Access to Health Care, Knowledge Level, Pretests Posttests
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) (DHHS); Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) (DHHS/ACL)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1R41MC310750100; T73MC11044; 90DD0106
Author Affiliations: 1University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Pediatrics, Aurora, USA; 2Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, USA; 3University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Psychiatry, Aurora, USA; 4Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Atlanta, USA; 5University of California Davis, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Davis, USA