Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder

Iris van den Berk-Smeekens; Martine van Dongen-Boomsma; Manon W.P. De Korte; Jenny C. Den Boer; Iris J. Oosterling; Nienke C. Peters-Scheffer; Jan K. Buitelaar; Emilia I. Barakova; Tino Lourens; Wouter G. Staal; Jeffrey C. Glennon

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65048-3

Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder

Iris van den Berk-Smeekens (Corresponding author)
, Martine van Dongen-Boomsma
, Manon W.P. De Korte
, Jenny C. Den Boer
, Iris J. Oosterling
, Nienke C. Peters-Scheffer
, Jan K. Buitelaar
, Emilia I. Barakova
, Tino Lourens
, Wouter G. Staal
, Jeffrey C. Glennon

EAISI Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

62 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present a robot-assisted therapy protocol for children with ASD based on the current state-of-the-art in both ASD intervention research and robotics research, and critically evaluate its adherence and acceptability based on child as well as parent ratings. The robot-assisted therapy was designed based on motivational components of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), a highly promising and feasible intervention focused at training “pivotal” (key) areas such as motivation for social interaction and self-initiations, with the goal of establishing collateral gains in untargeted areas of functioning and development, affected by autism spectrum disorders. Overall, children (3–8 y) could adhere to the robot-assisted therapy protocol (Mean percentage of treatment adherence 85.5%), showed positive affect ratings after therapy sessions (positive in 86.6% of sessions) and high robot likability scores (high in 79.4% of sessions). Positive likability ratings were mainly given by school-aged children (H(1) = 7.91, p =.005) and related to the movements, speech and game scenarios of the robot. Parent ratings on the added value of the robot were mainly positive (Mean of 84.8 on 0–100 scale), while lower parent ratings were related to inflexibility of robot behaviour.

Original language	English
Article number	8110
Number of pages	11
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	10
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65048-3
Publication status	Published - 15 May 2020

Funding

This study was funded by a ZonMW Grant (Program Translational Research, project number 95103010) and by Karakter, expert center for the child-and adolescent psychiatry in The Netherlands. The study was further supported by the EU-AIMS (European Autism Interventions) programme which received support from Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking Grant No. 115300, the resources of which are composed of financial contributions from the European Union’s FP7 Programme, and from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) companies’ in-kind contributions. This study was part of a larger randomised clinical trial to the effectiveness of PRT for children with ASD (PicASSo project, registered at 01/08/2014 at the Netherlands Trial Register; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/4487; NL4487/NTR4712). The authors thank all the children, parents and teachers that participated in the study, as well as the health care professionals of Karakter, interns and research assistants for their time and commitment which made the study possible.

Keywords

Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology
Behavior Therapy
Child
Child, Preschool
Clinical Protocols/standards
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Parent-Child Relations
Parents/psychology
Robotics/instrumentation
Treatment Adherence and Compliance/statistics & numerical data

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10.1038/s41598-020-65048-3

Cite this

van den Berk-Smeekens, I., van Dongen-Boomsma, M., De Korte, M. W. P., Den Boer, J. C., Oosterling, I. J., Peters-Scheffer, N. C., Buitelaar, J. K., Barakova, E. I., Lourens, T., Staal, W. G., & Glennon, J. C. (2020). Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 8110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65048-3

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title = "Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder",

abstract = "The aim of this study is to present a robot-assisted therapy protocol for children with ASD based on the current state-of-the-art in both ASD intervention research and robotics research, and critically evaluate its adherence and acceptability based on child as well as parent ratings. The robot-assisted therapy was designed based on motivational components of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), a highly promising and feasible intervention focused at training {\textquotedblleft}pivotal{\textquotedblright} (key) areas such as motivation for social interaction and self-initiations, with the goal of establishing collateral gains in untargeted areas of functioning and development, affected by autism spectrum disorders. Overall, children (3{\textendash}8 y) could adhere to the robot-assisted therapy protocol (Mean percentage of treatment adherence 85.5\%), showed positive affect ratings after therapy sessions (positive in 86.6\% of sessions) and high robot likability scores (high in 79.4\% of sessions). Positive likability ratings were mainly given by school-aged children (H(1) = 7.91, p =.005) and related to the movements, speech and game scenarios of the robot. Parent ratings on the added value of the robot were mainly positive (Mean of 84.8 on 0{\textendash}100 scale), while lower parent ratings were related to inflexibility of robot behaviour.",

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author = "\{van den Berk-Smeekens\}, Iris and \{van Dongen-Boomsma\}, Martine and \{De Korte\}, \{Manon W.P.\} and \{Den Boer\}, \{Jenny C.\} and Oosterling, \{Iris J.\} and Peters-Scheffer, \{Nienke C.\} and Buitelaar, \{Jan K.\} and Barakova, \{Emilia I.\} and Tino Lourens and Staal, \{Wouter G.\} and Glennon, \{Jeffrey C.\}",

year = "2020",

month = may,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1038/s41598-020-65048-3",

language = "English",

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van den Berk-Smeekens, I, van Dongen-Boomsma, M, De Korte, MWP, Den Boer, JC, Oosterling, IJ, Peters-Scheffer, NC, Buitelaar, JK, Barakova, EI, Lourens, T, Staal, WG & Glennon, JC 2020, 'Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder', Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 1, 8110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65048-3

Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder. / van den Berk-Smeekens, Iris (Corresponding author); van Dongen-Boomsma, Martine; De Korte, Manon W.P. et al.
In: Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, No. 1, 8110, 15.05.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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AU - van den Berk-Smeekens, Iris

AU - van Dongen-Boomsma, Martine

AU - De Korte, Manon W.P.

AU - Den Boer, Jenny C.

AU - Oosterling, Iris J.

AU - Peters-Scheffer, Nienke C.

AU - Buitelaar, Jan K.

AU - Barakova, Emilia I.

AU - Lourens, Tino

AU - Staal, Wouter G.

AU - Glennon, Jeffrey C.

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KW - Behavior Therapy

KW - Child

KW - Child, Preschool

KW - Clinical Protocols/standards

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Interpersonal Relations

KW - Male

KW - Parent-Child Relations

KW - Parents/psychology

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KW - Treatment Adherence and Compliance/statistics & numerical data

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JF - Scientific Reports

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ER -

Adherence and acceptability of a robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment protocol for children with autism spectrum disorder

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