Results from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Single-Session Growth-Mindset Intervention for Internalizing Symptoms in Autistic Youth

Purpose: Autistic youth experience elevated rates of co-occurring internalizing symptoms. Interventions to treat internalizing symptoms in autistic youth are almost uniformly costly and time-intensive, blunting dissemination of intervention and highlighting the need for scalable and accessible solutions. One promising option is a relatively new class of evidence-based treatments, single-session interventions (SSIs), however, no study has examined SSIs for depression symptoms in autistic youth. Methods: Participants included 40 autistic adolescents ranging in age from 11-16 (Mage = 14.22, Nmale = 32). Eligible youth who agreed to participate were randomized to either the active intervention (Project Personality), or an active control intervention designed to mimic supportive therapy. Participants and their caregiver complete questionnaires immediately before, after, and three months post intervention. Results: Findings demonstrated improvements in perceived primary control, malleability of personality, and social competence relative to the active control group at immediate post-intervention. Further, results revealed improvements in self-reported depression symptoms and parent reported emotional regulation at 3-month follow up. However, there were no significant treatment effects on symptoms of anxiety. Conclusion: This study was the first to assess the impact of a GM-SSI designed to treat depression symptoms in autistic adolescents. Results indicated immediate post-intervention improvements in perceived control and downstream improvements in depression. Nonetheless, we did not find improvements in symptoms of anxiety, suggesting that autistic adolescents may require modifications to the intervention to maximize benefit. Our findings demonstrate the utility of GM-SSI for internalizing symptoms for autistic youth and hold considerable promise as a low-intensity and scalable intervention.