Exploring Parent-Led CBT for Anxious Autistic Kids: What Matters Most?

You might have heard that parent-led cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help autistic kids with anxiety. A recent study checked this out. It found that having parents guide their kids through a CBT workbook, with some therapist help, did reduce anxiety and related problems. But the researchers wanted to know more. They looked at what might affect how well this therapy worked. They used data from their study of 87 kids. They checked out stuff like how much families give in to their kids' anxiety, how bad anxiety was to start with, how autistic the kids were, and if they had other behavior issues. They wanted to see if these things changed how well the kids got better or if they stayed with the therapy. Surprisingly, most of these things didn't make a big difference. But a few things did. Kids with more autistic features didn't show as much improvement after therapy. Also, kids who weren't male or were from Hispanic families tended to have more trouble later. This tells us that finding out more about what helps autistic kids with anxiety is still important.