Home › Autism Spectrum Disorder › NCT07159308

Motivation for Daily Living Skills

Enhancing Motivation to Complete Daily Living Skills Among Transition-aged Autistic Youth

Who can join

Ages 16 to 25 · All sexes

Inclusion Criteria for Autistic Teens and Young Adults:

* Age 16-25 years
* Participants reporting an autism diagnosis from a qualified provider (Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Developmental Pediatrician, Neurologist). When possible, diagnosis will be confirmed through the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Electronic Health Record (EHR).
* Must identify an important person who is able to communicate by understanding and speaking full sentences in English
* Ability to communicate by understanding and using full sentences in English
* Informed Consent
* Be willing to have sessions audio- and video-recorded

Exclusion Criteria for Autistic Teens and Young Adults:

* Diagnosis of Intellectual Disability
* Participant is currently considered a suicide risk in the opinion of the Investigator or is currently demonstrating active suicidal or homicidal ideation or self-injurious behavior.
* Current, comorbid psychiatric disorder with sufficiently intense symptoms in the opinion of the Investigator that these symptoms may confound treatment.
* Changes to mental health treatment plan (ex. starting or ending therapy or psychotropic medications over the course of this intervention).
* Participation in a prior trial of our intrinsic motivation condition

Inclusion Criteria for Important Person:

* Age 18 years or older
* Must attend at least 15 minutes of each treatment session
* Ability to communicate by understanding and using full sentences in English
* Informed consent
* Be willing to have sessions audio- and video-recorded

Exclusion Criteria for Important Person:

\- Is not willing to support the autistic teen/young adult with their daily living skill goal

About the study

The goal of this clinical trial is to enhance motivation to complete daily living skills among 16 to 25-year-old autistic teens and young adults. Here are the main questions the trial aims to answer:

Can this trial improve motivation to complete daily living skills for skills that people know how to do but struggle to do them consistently?

Can this trial improve completion of the daily living skill that the participant identifies they want to do more often?

Do people report feeling more empowered to complete the daily living skill they want to do more often?

Are there any characteristics of a person that make them more or less likely to benefit from the treatment?

Researchers will compare treatments that target different types of motivation:

* One treatment focuses on internal motivation and explores what is important to someone and then connect that value back to their daily living skill goal. * A second treatment focuses on external motivation and will explore a person finding outside sources of motivation, like rewards. * A third treatment will use a combination of both methods.

Autistic teens and young adults enrolled in this study will also be asked to choose someone in their life to be involved in the study with them. This person is called an "Important Person" (IP) and can be anyone close to them, like a family member, friend, roommate, partner, etc. The IP will be expected to support the teen/young adult throughout this treatment.

Participants and their IPs will:

* Complete five 'talk' therapy sessions that will last 60 to 90 minutes. The IPs will join the last 15 minutes of each session) * Be assigned to one of the three motivation treatments * Fill out questionnaires before the first session, after sessions 2 through 5, and 2 weeks after therapy ends

What is being tested

• Intrinsic Motivation Treatment (behavioral)
• Extrinsic Motivation Treatment (behavioral)
• Combined Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Treatment (behavioral)

Sponsor: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Participants: 180 · Started: Sep 15, 2025

Contact the study team

• Benjamin E Yerys, PhD · Phone: 267-425-1173
• Madi Leach, Bachelors of Science · Phone: 267 425 1172

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07159308

Locations in the U.S.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.