Community-guided measurement-based care for autistic youth and adults receiving psychotherapy: A conceptual overview and pilot implementation study of MBC-AUT.

Researchers created a special system called MBC-AUT to help therapists better track how autistic children and adults are doing during therapy. They tested it with 18 autistic people and found it was helpful and manageable to use. Both clients and therapists saw benefits, though there were some challenges. This is important because autistic people often need mental health support but there's limited research on the best ways to provide therapy.

This study developed and pilot tested MBC-AUT, an autism-adapted measurement-based care system for psychotherapy with autistic youth and adults. Measurement-based care involves routinely using standardized measures to monitor treatment progress and outcomes. The researchers worked with the autistic community to develop this adapted system and tested it in an outpatient psychiatry clinic with 18 autistic youth and adults. Semi-structured interviews with clients and clinicians found the system was feasible and acceptable, with participants identifying benefits for therapeutic processes as well as barriers to implementation.

The study provides preliminary evidence for adapting measurement-based care approaches specifically for autistic clients receiving mental health services.

MBC-AUT shows promise as an autism-adapted approach to measurement-based care in psychotherapy settings. Clinicians should consider systematic measurement approaches when treating autistic clients, while addressing identified implementation barriers. Further research needed to establish effectiveness and develop scalable implementation strategies for broader clinical adoption.

Small pilot study with only 18 participants limits generalizability. Study type listed as review but appears to be pilot implementation study. Specific outcome measures and quantitative results not detailed in abstract. Long-term feasibility and clinical effectiveness not established.

Autistic youth and adults are more likely to experience psychiatric symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety) and to use psychiatric services than non-autistic people, yet research on evidence-based approaches to enhance psychiatric care for autistic people is limited. Measurement-based care is an evidence-based approach to psychotherapy that improves outcomes for clients, clinicians, and organizations by routinely administering and evaluating measures to clients. Despite this, research on measurement-based care systems for autistic clients is sparse. To address this gap, we developed an autism-adapted measurement-based care (MBC-AUT) system for and with autistic people and pilot tested the system in an outpatient psychiatry clinic to investigate the preliminary feasibility, acceptability, benefits, and barriers to this system for clients and clinicians.

Findings suggested that the MBC-AUT system was a feasible and acceptable system for the first 18 autistic youth, their caregivers, and autistic adults to use the system. In semi-structured interviews, clients and clinicians discussed the benefits of the MBC-AUT system to various therapeutic processes, as well as several important barriers to the use of the system. We offer potential solutions to address these barriers and to reduce client and clinician burden, and propose future directions for this line of research to increase access to more autistic people. As autistic clients continue to seek psychological services amid social landscapes of increasing complexity (e.g.

COVID-19 pandemic), efforts to enhance the delivery of psychotherapy for this population are critical.