Cooperative parent mediated therapy for Italian children with autism spectrum disorder: a clinical experimental study in a community healthcare service in Italy

IntroductionThis Clinical Experimental Study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Cooperative Parent Mediated therapy (CPMT), a targeted parent-coaching program for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in Community Healthcare Service in Italy.MethodsForty children with ASD and their parents were random...

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Main Authors: Alessandra Carta, Laura Casula, Salvatorica Manca, Mariangela Valentina Puci, Giuseppina Puseddu, Elisa Fucà, Giovanni Sotgiu, Stefano Vicari, Stefano Sotgiu, Giovanni Valeri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frcha.2025.1544344/full
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Summary:IntroductionThis Clinical Experimental Study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Cooperative Parent Mediated therapy (CPMT), a targeted parent-coaching program for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in Community Healthcare Service in Italy.MethodsForty children with ASD and their parents were randomly assigned to treatment conditions: the Control group received Individual Treatment As Usual (TAU Control group); while CPMT group received weekly parent–child sessions in addition to Individual TAU. Primary blinded outcomes were 6-months post-intervention change in parent–child interaction scores. Secondary outcomes included ASD symptom severity, adaptive functioning and parental stress levels. Baseline and post-treatment evaluations, at 6 months of follow up, were performed by an independent team.ResultsCPMT group showed significant add-on benefits on parent-child interactions, severity of autism symptoms, adaptive skills and parental stress level.DiscussionThis study provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the CPMT model also in community services, representing a further step forward in research on the implementation of therapy for ASD in community healthcare service.
ISSN:2813-4540