Taekwondo for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study uses a mixed methods design to understand the effectiveness of using taekwondo as an intervention for children with ASD and its effect on social interaction skills and everyday life. Qualitative research emphasizes that meaning can be explained and interpreted only by those who experience it. A pretest-posttest design will be used to describe what occurs after the introduction of the taekwondo intervention and understand the changes that occur after exposure. Collecting information through the lived experiences and observations from the parents will be collated with the pre and post results of the children participants' social interaction skills.

Qualitative data will be collected through pre and post semi-structured interviews with the parents to understand their observations of their child before and after completing the taekwondo program. Interviews will also be conducted with the child to understand their perspectives on physical activity participation. Interview questions will also explore how the effectiveness of the program has impacted the children's engagement in daily activities.

Quantitative research will be collected through pre and post results from the Autism Social Skills Profile-2 ([ASSP] assessment that will be completed by the parents. The ASSP-2 provides a comprehensive measure of social functioning for children and adolescents with ASD.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder Child Development Disorders, Pervasive Mental Disorders Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Age range

7 year–11 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Loma LInda University Health

Loma Linda, California, 92354, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Able to follow and understand English verbal instructions during the screening process.
No experience or prior experience with martial arts.
Able to walk and move without using adaptive equipment

Exclusion criteria

Physical disabilities that would prevent participation in taekwondo (e.g. wheelchair bound)

Treatment and study plan

Taekwondo

Behavioral

Children will participate in a 7-week taekwondo program.

Primary outcomes

Subject response to taekwondo

Time frame: Change between baseline and week 7.

Autism Social Skills Profile-2 (ASSP-2) will be administered at baseline prior to taekwondo instruction and then administered again at week 7. The ASSP-2 has 49 items and each are rated on a 4-point Likert scale with a minimum score of 1 representing never and a maximum score 4 representing very often for each item. This is a composite measurement. The scale ranges from a total raw score of 49 to a maximum of 196. There are three subscales: 20 social/emotional reciprocity (SER) items, 11 structured play activity (SPA) items, and 11 detrimental social behaviors (DSB) items. One component skill is measured as both an SER and SPA subscale. Standard scores have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The higher the scores for each section means that the child does not have difficulties with social skills for that subscale. The lower the scores shows a deficit in each area.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Loma Linda University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Taekwondo for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Impact on Social Interaction Skills in Everyday Life

Important dates

Study start: 2019
Primary completion: 2019
Study completion: 2020
First posted: Apr 11, 2019
Registry last updated: Mar 6, 2020

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed