An interventional study of Culturally Adapted Nurse-Led COPE Intervention and Routine Hospital Care in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Psychological Distress and Depression, sponsored by Khyber Medical University Peshawar. Recruiting at 1 site in Pakistan. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-23.
Sponsored by Khyber Medical University Peshawar · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a culturally adapted, nurse-led Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE) intervention to improve the psychological wellbeing of primary caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Pakistan. The study will use an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design comprising a qualitative needs assessment followed by a pilot randomized controlled feasibility trial. Qualitative interviews will identify caregivers' training needs and inform the cultural adaptation of the COPE intervention. Eligible caregivers will then be randomly assigned to either an intervention group receiving the culturally adapted COPE program in addition to routine care or a control group receiving routine care alone. The intervention consists of four weekly nurse-led sessions focusing on psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, coping strategies, positive parenting, emotional regulation, and family resilience. Psychological wellbeing will be assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) at baseline and one month after the intervention. The study will also evaluate recruitment, retention, intervention adherence, acceptability, and implementation feasibility to inform the design of a future definitive randomized controlled trial.
Parents and primary caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently experience substantial psychological distress due to the long-term demands of caregiving, including elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. In Pakistan, limited access to structured caregiver support programs, inadequate mental health services, financial constraints, and social stigma further increase caregiver burden. Although previous parent-mediated interventions conducted in Pakistan have demonstrated benefits for child developmental outcomes, few have specifically addressed the psychological wellbeing of caregivers. The Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE) program is an evidence-based, nurse-led psychoeducational intervention designed to improve parental coping, problem-solving, emotional regulation, and confidence through cognitive-behavioral strategies and structured education. This study seeks to culturally adapt the COPE intervention to ensure its relevance and acceptability within the Pakistani context.
The study will employ an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the first phase, qualitative semi-structured interviews will be conducted with primary caregivers of children with ASD to identify their educational and psychosocial support needs. Findings from the thematic analysis will be used to culturally adapt the COPE intervention. In the second phase, a pilot randomized controlled feasibility trial will be conducted in which eligible caregivers will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group receiving the culturally adapted nurse-led COPE program in addition to routine hospital care or a control group receiving routine hospital care alone. The intervention will comprise four weekly sessions of approximately 45 minutes each, covering understanding ASD, cognitive restructuring, coping strategies, positive parenting, emotional support, and long-term family resilience.
Baseline and one-month follow-up assessments will be conducted using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) to evaluate changes in depression, anxiety, and stress. In addition to clinical outcomes, the study will assess feasibility indicators including participant recruitment, retention, intervention adherence, acceptability, and implementation. Qualitative data will be analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach, while quantitative data will be analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27 with appropriate descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The findings will provide essential evidence regarding the feasibility and acceptability of the culturally adapted nurse-led COPE intervention and will inform the planning of a fully powered randomized controlled trial aimed at improving the psychological wellbeing of caregivers of children with ASD in Pakistan.
1,724 studies on the registry are indexed under Autism Spectrum Disorder; 500 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 77 is above the median of 52 across 1,368 interventional studies indexed under Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Browse Autism Spectrum Disorder studies →Khyber Medical University Peshawar is the lead sponsor of 54 studies on the registry; 13 are open to participants now.
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Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants randomized to the experimental arm will receive a culturally adapted, nurse-led Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE) intervention in addition to routine hospital care. The intervention consists of four weekly sessions (approximately 45 minutes each) delivered over four weeks by trained nurses. The sessions include psychoeducation about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), cognitive restructuring, coping strategies, positive parenting, emotional regulation, stress management, and long-term family resilience. Educational materials, including audio-visual aids and printed booklets, will be used to facilitate the intervention.
Behavioral: Culturally Adapted Nurse-Led COPE Intervention
Participants randomized to the control arm will receive routine hospital care only. They will not receive the culturally adapted nurse-led COPE intervention during the study period. Psychological wellbeing will be assessed at the same time points as the intervention group using the study outcome measures.
Other: Routine Hospital Care
The intervention is a culturally adapted, nurse-led behavioral and psychoeducational program based on the Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE) framework. It is designed to improve the psychological wellbeing of primary caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by enhancing coping skills, emotional regulation, problem-solving abilities, and parenting confidence. The intervention comprises four weekly sessions of approximately 45 minutes each and includes education about ASD, cognitive restructuring, stress management, positive parenting strategies, guided problem-solving, and development of long-term coping and family resilience. The program is delivered by trained nurses using standardized educational materials, including presentations, audiovisual aids, and printed booklets.
Also known as: Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE), COPE Program Culturally Adapted, COPE
Participants receive the standard care routinely provided by the hospital for families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. No components of the culturally adapted nurse-led COPE intervention are provided during the study period.
Change in Depression Score
Change in depression score measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) Depression subscale. The depression subscale consists of 7 items, each scored from 0 (Did not apply to me at all) to 3 (Applied to me very much or most of the time). The summed subscale score is multiplied by 2, yielding a final score ranging from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptoms. The primary outcome is the change in depression score from baseline to one-month follow-up between the intervention and control groups.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completion of the intervention.
Anxiety
Change in anxiety score measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) Anxiety subscale. The anxiety subscale consists of 7 items, each scored from 0 (Did not apply to me at all) to 3 (Applied to me very much or most of the time). The summed subscale score is multiplied by 2, yielding a final score ranging from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety symptoms. The primary outcome is the change in anxiety score from baseline to one-month follow-up between the intervention and control groups
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completion of the intervention.
Stress
Change in stress score measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) Stress subscale. The stress subscale consists of 7 items, each scored from 0 (Did not apply to me at all) to 3 (Applied to me very much or most of the time). The summed subscale score is multiplied by 2, yielding a final score ranging from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater stress symptoms. The primary outcome is the change in stress score from baseline to one-month follow-up between the intervention and control groups.
Time frame: Baseline and 1 month after completion of the intervention.
Plan to share: Yes — De-identified individual participant data (IPD) underlying the results reported in publications, including demographic characteristics, baseline data, intervention adherence, and outcome data (DASS-21 depression, anxiety, and stress scores), will be made available to qualified researchers. Data will be shared after publication of the primary study results and following approval of a methodologically sound research proposal. All shared datasets will be fully de-identified to protect participant confidentiality and will comply with institutional ethical requirements and applicable data protection regulations.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form
Time frame: Data will become available within 6 months after publication of the primary study results and will remain available for 5 years thereafter.
Access criteria: Qualified researchers whose proposed use of the data has been approved by the principal investigator and the Institutional Ethics Committee may access the de-identified data after submission of a methodologically sound research proposal and execution of a Data Sharing Agreement. Data will be used only for non-commercial scientific research consistent with the approved proposal.
Started Jul 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2027, 8 months after the start.
Of 800 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Autism Spectrum Disorder, half reached primary completion within 25 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 48. This study's planned 8 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 823 studies reached it within 25 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 47.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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Khyber Medical University Peshawar