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A Trial of the Launching! to Adulthood Program

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Launching! to Adulthood Program

Who can join

Ages 18 to 25 · All sexes

Inclusion Criteria:

* confirmed case of ASD from a licensed mental health or medical professional
* score of \>14 on the Social Communication Questionnaire-Lifetime (SCQ-L) completed with the mother or father
* meet DSM-5 criteria for ASD based on a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) ASD symptom checklist
* willing and motivated to participate in the treatment
* a parent willing to participate
* verbal intelligence quotient (IQ) score \>70 as assessed by the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test 2nd edition revised (KBIT-2-R)

Exclusion Criteria:

* history of a psychotic disorder or current psychotic symptoms
* suicidal ideation with intent or plan
* current alcohol or other substance use disorder rated severe
* concurrent enrollment in another clinical trial for autism spectrum disorder
* expression of unwillingness to complete study procedures

About the study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Launching intervention (Pagan et al., 2024) in improving adaptive functioning, transition readiness, and social cognition in young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), compared to a delayed treatment control group, to examine whether the Launching intervention leads to improvements in executive functioning, co-occurring mental health symptoms, and quality of life, as measured by caregiver and self-report assessments, to assess the maintenance of treatment gains 12 weeks post-treatment and to replicate the findings of the Launching pilot study in an independent sample of young adults with ASD.

What is being tested

• Launching! to adulthood group therapy (behavioral)
• standard of care (behavioral)

Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston · Participants: 40 · Started: Jul 15, 2025

Contact the study team

• Antonio Pagan, PhD · Phone: (713) 486-2700
• Katherine Loveland, PhD · Phone: (713) 486-2587

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT06868537

Locations in the U.S.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Oct 2, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.