Psychological Science Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2025
Abstract
This Phase 1 clinical trial evaluated ¡Iniciando! la Adultez, a culturally adapted intervention for Latino autistic young adults (n = 56) and their parents (n = 63). Young adults showed significant post-treatment improvements on measures of social responsiveness (SRS-2), adaptive behavior (ABAS-3), executive functioning (BRIEF-A), quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), transition readiness (TRS-A), coping self-efficacy (CSES), and emotion regulation (DERS-SF). Parents reported significant improvements in their perceptions of their child’s social responsiveness, adaptive behavior, and executive functioning, as well as increased transition readiness ratings. Notably, parents evinced a significant decrease in acculturative stress (RASI) and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), however, parental baseline anxiety remained unchanged. These preliminary findings suggest ¡Iniciando! is a feasible and potentially effective culturally adapted intervention for this underserved population, warranting further investigation in larger controlled trials.
Recommended Citation
Pagán, A. F., Esparza, A., Ramirez, A., Ortiz, M., Hernandez, L., Morgan, M. B., Noel, G., Pagán, A. L., Salas, J., Maurano, K., Sattem, G., Sydow, L., Ahmed, N., Loveland, K. A., Montiel-Nava, C., & Acierno, R. (2025). Phase 1 clinical trial of ¡Iniciando! la adultez: a culturally tailored intervention for transitioning Latino young adults with autism. International journal of developmental disabilities, 10.1080/20473869.2025.2545960. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2025.2545960
Publication Title
International journal of developmental disabilities
DOI
10.1080/20473869.2025.2545960

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