Families for Effective Autism Treatment

(FEAT) of Washington

This page was last updated: July 30, 2010

Self-Regulation Intervention Opportunity

Does your child have difficulty with self-regulation?

February 10, 2010

Dear Parent:

I am a clinical psychology advanced graduate student at Seattle Pacific University and I am completing my dissertation project and I am hoping to recruit families to participate through FEAT. The project is called the Young Children’s Self Regulation Project. The project is outlined on the next page. Please take a look at the following study information, and if you are interested in participating, please contact me by either calling or emailing me. My contact information is below. I will be happy to answer any questions about the project, and ask if you are interested in participating. Feel free to contact me anytime!

Thank you very much for your consideration. I hope you will join me in my child development research endeavors!

Sincerely,

Rachel Montague, M.A.

Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology

Seattle Pacific University

Email: montar@spu.edu

Phone: 206-579-5583

Young Children’s Self-Regulation Project

Project Description:

The purpose of the Young Children’s Self-Regulation project is to learn about children’s social and behavioral development. We are investigating how children problem-solve, focus attention, and regulate their behavior and emotions. We especially want to know how these abilities predict better social and behavioral outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and children who are typically developing. We are specifically looking for children between the ages of 3 and 6 1/2. The way we are addressing these questions is by interviewing children and parents, asking children to complete several different activities, and asking parents and teachers to fill out some questionnaires.

Description of Project Activities:

→ Children and Parents: Completing the study activities usually takes three sessions, and the last visit usually takes place with just the parent present. Here is a description of each visit:

(1) The first visit is the enrollment visit with the parent and child. Parents will read the consent form. Children will complete a verbal assessment and parents complete questionnaires about the child’s development, behavior, and social skills at a time of their convenience. The enrollment visit usually lasts 1 hour and can take place at a location that is convenient to the family (e.g. home or nearby library).

(2) If the family qualifies to enroll into the second part of the study, we schedule a time when the family will visit our project offices at Seattle Pacific University. The University visit is approximately 1 3/4 hours. Parents will answer a few questions about common parenting behaviors and thoughts and ideas related to raising their child. Children will complete a range of activities assessing their problem-solving skills, attention, and ability to regulate their behavior and we will collect information about their heart rate during some of the activities. We want parents and children to feel like they have enough time to complete these activities without feeling rushed or fatigued so we take breaks and together with the parent we may suggest that we complete some activities during a third visit.

(3) The third visit is usually a parent- only visit and involves an interview about parent’s own and their child’s emotions and how they deal with these emotions. The interview takes about 30-45 minutes. Most parents report that this interview helped them think about their child’s emotions and how they try to assist their child with these experiences. This final session may also be used to have children complete study measures that they were not able to finish because they became fatigued or other issues.

More details about specific activities will be presented in the consent form and parents are welcome to call or email to ask questions. Parents will be paid $15 each plus a $5 gift card for their time. Teachers will receive $15 for completing a packet of questionnaires. Children will receive stickers and a small gift (valued at approximately $5).

→ Teachers: we will ask the child’s teacher to complete questionnaires about the child’s behavior, emotions, and development. Teachers will be paid $15 (per participating child) for their time.