An interventional study of Competence in Romance and Understanding Sexual Health (CRUSH) in Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder, sponsored by Boston Children's Hospital. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 30 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-13.
Sponsored by Boston Children's Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the feasibility and acceptability of a behavioral intervention in designed to provide sexual education and improve the behavioral skills of autistic adults for intimate relationships.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Participants will complete:
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the feasibility and acceptability of a behavioral intervention in designed to provide sexual education and improve the behavioral skills of autistic adults for intimate relationships, called CRUSH.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Participants will complete:
1,344 studies on the registry are indexed under Autistic Disorder; 334 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 8 is below the median of 45 across 1,044 interventional studies indexed under Autistic Disorder.
Browse Autistic Disorder studies →Boston Children's Hospital is the lead sponsor of 598 studies on the registry; 151 are open to participants now.
Of its 31 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 18 (58%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants will receive the CRUSH Curriculum
Behavioral: Competence in Romance and Understanding Sexual Health (CRUSH)
Manualized curriculum targeting sexual health and behavior in intimate relationships designed to meet the specific needs of autistic adults
Acceptability Rating Scale
A qualitative measure of the acceptability of intervention was collected at each timepoint. Quantitative acceptability ratings about the CRUSH curriculum were obtained at the conclusion of intervention using a 5-point rating scale, with "1" indicating agreement with a statement about the curriculum and "5" indicating disagreement. Items were: I would be likely to recommend the program to a friend. Knowing what I know now, I'm happy with my choice to participate in the CRUSH Program. The program was easy to understand. The CRUSH Program presented information clearly. The program was relevant to me and my experience. The program was helpful. I learned new information from the program. I feel more confident in my ability try new things in relationships or sexual experiences after participating in the program. I have new skills/behaviors after participating in the program. Items were averaged into a total score (range: 1-5); lower scores reflected higher agreement/better acceptability.
Time frame: At baseline enrollment visit and weekly throughout training for a total of 20 weeks
Feasibility Assessment
Analysis of missing items or session content that cannot be completed (fewer missing items indicates better feasibility)
Time frame: At baseline enrollment visit and weekly throughout training for a total of 20 weeks
Sexual Vocabulary Test (Ousley & Mesibov, 1991; Kohn et al., 2022) - Vocabulary Accuracy and Pragmatics Scores
A measure of 18 terms related to basic knowledge of sexual health and anatomy. The Vocabulary Accuracy score measures the ability to provide definitions of sexual health terms (knowledge) and is scored on a 3-point scale for accuracy: 2 for a detailed correct answer, 1 for a generally correct answer, and 0 for a response of "don't know" or an incorrect answer. The Pragmatics score measures sociocultural competence (slang), vulgarity, mechanical language, relevancy, strategic competence, and discourse competence. Pragmatics are scored scored on a scale of 0-2 with 0 representing the highest level of pragmatic skill and 2 represented the lowest score for each item. This test was used as a measure of target engagement. Partial eta squared effect size is for change over time (baseline, midpoint, post) modeled with repeated measures ANOVA.
Time frame: At baseline enrollment visit; 8-10 weeks after beginning intervention (i.e., midpoint); 18-22 weeks after beginning intervention (i.e., post-testing). Effect sizes are for change across timepoints (i.e., trajectory from baseline to midpoint to post).
Mathtech Behavioral Scale (Kirby, 2013)
A measure of sexual health and intimate behavior to be used as a primary outcome in a future trial (higher scores indicate higher levels of behavior) measures possible outcomes of sexuality education programs including changes in behavior that facilitate a positive and fulfilling sexuality and sexual health and independent of relationship status. It includes 45 items that include the skill with which a behavior is completed, comfort during that behavior, and the frequency of the behavior; responses use a 5-point rating, a 4-point rating, and the frequency in the past month, respectively. Partial eta squared effect size is for change over time (baseline, midpoint, post) modeled with repeated measures ANOVA.
Time frame: At baseline enrollment visit; 8-10 weeks after beginning intervention (i.e., midpoint); 18-22 weeks after beginning intervention (i.e., post-testing). Effect sizes are for change across timepoints (i.e., trajectory from baseline to midpoint to post).
| Milestone | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| Started | 8 |
| Completed | 8 |
| Not completed | 0 |
A qualitative measure of the acceptability of intervention was collected at each timepoint. Quantitative acceptability ratings about the CRUSH curriculum were obtained at the conclusion of intervention using a 5-point rating scale, with "1" indicating agreement with a statement about the curriculum and "5" indicating disagreement. Items were: I would be likely to recommend the program to a friend. Knowing what I know now, I'm happy with my choice to participate in the CRUSH Program. The program was easy to understand. The CRUSH Program presented information clearly. The program was relevant to me and my experience. The program was helpful. I learned new information from the program. I feel more confident in my ability try new things in relationships or sexual experiences after participating in the program. I have new skills/behaviors after participating in the program. Items were averaged into a total score (range: 1-5); lower scores reflected higher agreement/better acceptability.
| Units on a 5-point rating scale | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| Acceptability Rating Scale | 1.301886792 ± 0.503255007 |
Analysis of missing items or session content that cannot be completed (fewer missing items indicates better feasibility)
| Participants | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| Feasibility Assessment | 8 |
A measure of 18 terms related to basic knowledge of sexual health and anatomy. The Vocabulary Accuracy score measures the ability to provide definitions of sexual health terms (knowledge) and is scored on a 3-point scale for accuracy: 2 for a detailed correct answer, 1 for a generally correct answer, and 0 for a response of "don't know" or an incorrect answer. The Pragmatics score measures sociocultural competence (slang), vulgarity, mechanical language, relevancy, strategic competence, and discourse competence. Pragmatics are scored scored on a scale of 0-2 with 0 representing the highest level of pragmatic skill and 2 represented the lowest score for each item. This test was used as a measure of target engagement. Partial eta squared effect size is for change over time (baseline, midpoint, post) modeled with repeated measures ANOVA.
| Partial eta squared (effect size) | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| Pragmatic (slang) | 0.43 |
| Accuracy (knowledge) | 0.15 |
A measure of sexual health and intimate behavior to be used as a primary outcome in a future trial (higher scores indicate higher levels of behavior) measures possible outcomes of sexuality education programs including changes in behavior that facilitate a positive and fulfilling sexuality and sexual health and independent of relationship status. It includes 45 items that include the skill with which a behavior is completed, comfort during that behavior, and the frequency of the behavior; responses use a 5-point rating, a 4-point rating, and the frequency in the past month, respectively. Partial eta squared effect size is for change over time (baseline, midpoint, post) modeled with repeated measures ANOVA.
| Partial eta squared (effect size) | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| Comfort having Current Sex Life (whatever it may be) | 0.16 |
| Comfort Getting and Using Birth Control | 0.15 |
| Comfort with being Sexually Assertive (more confidence saying "no") | 0.13 |
| Sexual Decision-Making Skills (more efficient and collaborative sexual health decision making) | 0.06 |
| Comfort Talking about Birth Control (with friends, partners, parents) | .222 |
Collected over At each intervention visit (20 weeks). Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.
| Group | Deaths | Serious | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention Group | 0/8 (0%) | 0/8 (0%) | 0/8 (0%) |
| Age, Customized(Participants) | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| 18-24 years | 4 |
| 25-30 | 4 |
| Sex: Female, Male(Participants) | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| Female | 3 |
| Male | 5 |
| Race (NIH/OMB)(Participants) | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 |
| Asian | 1 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 |
| Black or African American | 0 |
| White | 4 |
| More than one race | 3 |
| Unknown or Not Reported | 0 |
| Region of Enrollment(participants) | Intervention Group |
|---|---|
| United States | 8 |
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Boston Children's Hospital