DBT Skill Training for Autistic Adults With Difficulties in Emotion Regulation.

NCT07021274 | Not Yet Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: 836937
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 15
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

One in 44 has autism, 70% of them have additional mental health challenges. Currently, this patient population does not have access to effective treatment within specialist healthcare services and has struggled to benefit from standard treatments. The goal of this project is to increase access to treatment tailored to their challenges. We will investigate whether a treatment program with an adapted version of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is feasible, accepted, and perceived as useful for people with autism. The purpose of the treatment is to improve emotion regulation, function better in relationships, and avoid crises, thereby enhancing their ability to achieve personal goals, reduce suffering, and increase quality of life. Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder, presenting with great variation and more widespread than previously thought. Difficulties with emotion regulation are a central challenge for many with autism. These difficulties often manifest as an inability to recognize, understand, and manage emotional responses, leading to destructive strategies, behaviors, and suffering. DBT is developed with a focus on emotion regulation and has shown good effects in other patient populations. The project can increase access to treatment for a patient population that currently stands without.

Conditions

Difficulties of Emotion Regulation; Self-harm Behavior; Autism Spectrum Disorder

Keywords

Autisim; emotion regulation; DBT skills training; adults; ASD; Feasibility; Autism spectrum disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS) - 8

  a shortened self-report instrument, developed from the original DERS-36 meant to measure difficulties in emotion regulation. The DERS-8 consists of 8 items prefaced with the phrase "When I'm upset," to provide respondents with a uniform context that elicits thinking about situations requiring regulation of negative emotion; answers to items likely to represent affect, thought, and actions in response to such situations. The scale offers a brief unidimensional measure of difficulties in emotion regulation for adolescents and adults. Higher scores indicate greater levels of difficulties in emotion regulation.

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 28 weeks.

• participation in treatment

  Dropout rate from DBT skills training, as well as the percentage of DBT-SUD skills sessions participated in, and the percentage completed homework.

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 28 weeks.

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy- Ways of Coping Checklist (DBT-WCCL)

  It is a 59 item self-rapport questionnaire that assesses both positive and negative methods of coping with stressful situations including problem-focus, seeking social support, blaming self, blaming others, wishful thinking, and avoidance as well as DBT skills use on 4-point likert scale: 0 = Never Used, 1= Rarely Used, 2= Sometimes Used, 3 = Regularly Used. The questionnaire is divided into 2 subscales: 1) DBT skills subscale that consists of Nine items represent emotion regulation skills, seven represent interpersonal effectiveness skills, five depict mindfulness skills, 19 represent crisis survival skills, two depict reality acceptance skills (0-114). and 2) Dysfunctional Coping Subscale that consist of 17 items referring to dysfunctional behavior in general along with items referring more specifically to blaming others (0-63).

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 28 weeks.

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Diary card

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 28 weeks.

• Qualitative interview guide - DBT skills training ASD

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at 28 weeks.

Study Arms (1)

Participate in DBT skills training

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention period will be from August 2025- February 2027. DBT- skills is a group skills training component of Dialectical Behaviour therapy a comprehensive treatment focused on extensive difficulties in emotion regulation. In this project, the investigators will use the standard DBT skill-training model with an addition of Autism specific interventions and adjustments. The DBT-SUD Skills intervention consists of: 2-3 sessions with a DBT therapist focusing on treatment orientation - mapping the patients' goals, obstacles, and resources, DBT- hierarchy, and commitment. Skills training - 28, two-hour sessions - once a week. 1 status and evaluation session half-way through the skills training. 1 summary session with a focus on goals reached and troubleshooting. Two DBT therapists lead the group, and each group consists of approx. 4-6 participants.

Behavioral: DBT skills training adjusted to autistic needs

Interventions

DBT skills training adjusted to autistic needs BEHAVIORAL

Adjustments to fit the specific learning style of people with autism. Simplified skills - fewer words, ,more pictures, autism relevant examples. Hands- on training using props and role play. adjustments so sensory sensitivities.

Participate in DBT skills training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Have diagnosed autism, and pervasive difficulties in emotion regulation.
• Speak Scandinavian (Norwegian, Danish and/or Swedish).
• Manage to commit to participating in the DBT- skills training.
• Be willing to sign the written informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Have a clinically significant low linguistic functioning that hinders the patient in understanding and answering the questions on the self-report instruments.
• Being actively psychotic.
• Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) under 17.
• Cognitive disability Intelliganve quotient (IQ) \<85

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Helse Møre og Romsdal HF: lead
• The Dam Foundation: collaborator

Related Publications (2)

• Bargiela S, Steward R, Mandy W. The Experiences of Late-diagnosed Women with Autism Spectrum Conditions: An Investigation of the Female Autism Phenotype. J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Oct;46(10):3281-94. doi: 10.1007/s10803-016-2872-8.

  PMID: 27457364 BACKGROUND

• Ritschel LA, Guy L, Maddox BB. A pilot study of dialectical behaviour therapy skills training for autistic adults. Behav Cogn Psychother. 2022 Mar;50(2):187-202. doi: 10.1017/S1352465821000370. Epub 2021 Sep 23.

  PMID: 34553682 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Emotional Regulation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Self-Control; Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Egil Jonsbu, MD, PhD

  More And Romsdal Hospital Trust

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Johanna Vigfusdottir, Clinical psychologist

CONTACT

+4746746154; johannavigfusd@gmail.com

Reidun Hoidal, Clinical psychologist

CONTACT

+4795923700; reidun.hoidal@helse-mr.no

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER GOV
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: This study is a mixed-method feasibility study without a control group. With measurements pre and post treatment intervention

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 19, 2025
• First Posted: June 13, 2025
• Study Start: August 20, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 28, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 28, 2027
• Last Updated: July 15, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07