Anxiety in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder Evidence Based Assessment and Treatment

Dr. Connor Kerns has conducted and published studies on broad array of topics including the role of paternal age in ASD risk, the co-occurrence of childhood psychopathologies, and differential predictors of CBT efficacy for child anxiety. Her present research focuses on the overlap, assessment and treatment of anxiety and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Her ongoing projects aim to explore the varied presentation and phenomenology of anxiety in ASD and the implications of this variation for effective anxiety measurement and treatment. Dr. Kerns is also preparing to extend this work to the understudied area of traumatic events and their sequelae in youth with ASD. Another area of interest is the use of technology to facilitate the dissemination of empirically based treatments. Dr. Kerns is currently working to develop cost-effective, computer-assisted CBTs for youth with ASD and anxiety, interactive social stories to improve skill generalization in ASD, and video-enhanced ASD screening and educational tools. Her long terms goals include developing a parsimonious model of psychiatric co-occurrence to inform the design and dissemination of cross-diagnostic assessments and treatments that will improve child wellbeing and development.

Dr. Renno is a Clinical Psychologist at the UCLA Child and Adult Neurodevelopmental Clinic (CAN) Clinic and a Clinical Instructor in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division at UCLA. She is also the Associate Director of the UCLA CAN REACH Training Program which provides free workshops and lectures on autism spectrum disorder for families and community providers. Dr. Renno specializes in the assessment and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related psychiatric conditions in children and adolescents. After completing her doctoral degree in Psychological Studies in Education at UCLA, she received postdoctoral training at UCLA’s Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART). She has worked on several clinical trials examining the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy to treat anxiety and related social difficulties in children and youth with ASD. Her research has focused on the co-occurrence of anxiety in autism spectrum disorders and developing effective treatments for anxiety and social difficulties in school-age children with ASD.

Dr. Eric Storch is McIngvale Presidential Endowed Chair & Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Storch has received multiple grants from federal agencies for his research (i.e., NIH, CDC), is a Fulbright Scholar, and has published over 14 books and over 500 articles and chapters. He specializes in the nature and treatment of childhood and adult obsessive-compulsive disorder and related conditions, anxiety disorders, and anxiety among youth with autism.

Philip C. Kendall’s doctorate in clinical psychology is from Virginia Commonwealth University where he has been honored with the Outstanding Alumnus Award. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology and is a Distinguished University Professor and Laura H. Carnell professor of Psychology at Temple University. Dr. Kendall has been president of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (Division 53) of APA as well as President of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT, now ABCT). He has garnered prestigious awards: For example, Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Research Recognition Award from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, “Great Teacher” award from Temple University, and “top therapist” in the tristate area by Philadelphia Magazine. ABCT recognized and awarded him for his “Outstanding Contribution by an Individual for Educational / Training Activities” and the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP) of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) awarded him the Distinguished Scientist Award. He has over 600 publication credits, and his citations place him among the most “Highly-Cited” individuals in all of the social and medical sciences (H factor of 101).

Jeffrey J. Wood is a clinical child psychologist with a joint appointment as Associate Professor in the Division of Child Psychiatry and the Division of Psychological Studies in Education at UCLA. He is also a faculty member of the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment. He received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA, specializing in clinical trials of cognitive behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety disorders and OCD. As a doctoral student and psychology intern at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, he acquired expertise in the assessment and behavioral treatment of school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Wood was the PI of a CART Pilot Grant in 2004. He has also been the recipient of several awards from NIMH, AERA, and UCLA, and has attained multiple grants from NIMH, the Cure Autism Now foundation, Autism Speaks, and the Organization for Autism Research to study cognitive behavioral interventions for school-aged children with autism. Drawing upon contemporary cognitive science models of memory retrieval competition and cognitive neuroscience models of information processing in autism, Dr. Wood has been developing novel intervention techniques and adapting techniques from other areas of childhood psychopathology (e.g., emotional disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, and habit disorders) in the formation of a comprehensive cognitive behavioral therapy program for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders and high levels of anxiety. Dr. Wood’s research seeks to identify effective treatment methods that improve self-regulation, increase adaptive behaviors in social and academic contexts, and address the varying patterns of symptom expression (e.g., repetitive behaviors) and psychiatric comorbidity (e.g., anxiety, conduct problems) seen in many children with ASD.