Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

8-23-2025

Journal

International Journal of Developmental Disabilities

DOI

10.1080/20473869.2025.2545960

PMID

41445547

PMCID

PMC12724526

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

12-24-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

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.

Keywords

Latino young adults, autism spectrum disorder, transition to adulthood, culturally tailored intervention, Phase 1 clinical trial

Published Open-Access

yes

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