Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASDNCT07236346
Effects of Parent-child Co-participation in Physical Activity
A study testing A parent-child co-participation in physical activity in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, run by Bayburt University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
Trial summary
Literature reviews and studies of physical activity (PA) interventions suggest that active parental involvement is an important component of supporting PA levels in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 4 to 11 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD
- What is being tested?
- A parent-child co-participation in physical activity
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
- Study dates
- 1 Jan 2025to 1 Oct 2025
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 4 to 11 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- willingness to participate in the study,
- being the primary guardian of a child with ASD between,
- having an ASD diagnosis confirmed GARS-2-TV,
- being between the ages of four and eleven,
- being able to walk independently.
Who cannot join
- those who do not attend at least one of the sessions of the training program,
- children with physical health problems (based on self-report and clinical diagnosis) will be excluded from the study.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Effects of Parent-child Co-participation in Physical Activity on Physical Activity Levels and Motor Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Quasi-experimental Study
Literature reviews and studies of physical activity (PA) interventions suggest that active parental involvement is an important component of supporting PA levels in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Parents have also viewed these interventions as a valuable source of social support and motivation for themselves and their children with ASD; however, parents have reported a lack of PA interventions specifically involving parental involvement to increase PA levels in their children.
To our knowledge, only a handful of PA studies in the literature have examined PA levels or fundamentals movement skills (FMS) in children with ASD and have included parental involvement. Overall, findings from previous studies have shown that PA interventions that include parental involvement successfully improve PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. Given the potential benefits and the increasing interest in family-based interventions, supporting parent-child co-participation in PA may be a possible strategy to promote PA among children and parents. To date, studies on parent-child co-participation in PA have mostly focused on improving PA levels and FMS in children with ASD using web-based interventions such as social media, websites, and online systems. Furthermore, with the exception of two studies, the focus of these studies was on PA levels and not FMS in children with ASD. Furthermore, not all previous studies have created PA groups with and without parental involvement to explore whether parent-child co-participation truly makes a difference. We addressed these limitations in the current study and used a design that included a parent-child PA group, a child PA group, and a control group to examine both PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parent-child co-participation on PA levels and FMS in children with ASD.
- Conditions
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD
- Being tested
- A parent-child co-participation in physical activity
- Keywords
- physical activity, parent, autism spectrum disorder, motor skills
- Medical subject headings
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Motor Activity
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
A parent-child co-participation in physical activityBehavioural
Parents in PCG-A engaged in PA with their children three days a week. All parents attended the sessions and engaged in partner warm-ups, partner functional exercises, partner games, and partner cool-downs with their children. Children in CG-B engaged in PA with their peers three days a week without parental involvement, engaging in partner warm-ups, partner functional exercises, partner games, and partner cool-downs. Both intervention groups were compared with a control group. We instructed the control group to maintain their normal routines and activities throughout the intervention and asked them to participate in a pre-test and post-test. A demonstration strategy was used to teach the activities. We provided immediate feedback to encourage and support children with ASD and their parents. We also chatted with the children and parents at the end of each daily physical activity session to evaluate the effectiveness of the session and prepare them for the next session.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| parent-child group | Experimental | This group included parental involvement. Parents and children engaged in PA together three days a week, each session lasting approximately one hour. Receives: Behavioral: A parent-child co-participation in physical activity |
| child group | Experimental | This group did not include parental involvement. Only children with ASD engaged in PA three days a week, each session lasting approximately 1 hour. Receives: Behavioral: A parent-child co-participation in physical activity |
| control group | No intervention | This group continued their normal routines and activities throughout the intervention. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ)
The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) was used to assess children's PA levels before and after the intervention. The LTEQ consists of three questions that seek information on the number of times children engage in mild, moderate, and strenuous intensity PA for at least 15 minutes in a typical week.
It was applied to the participants in the intervention groups twice, before and after 8 weeks.
Measured: 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes (1)
The Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3)
The TGMD-3 examines 13 gross motor skills, divided into two subsections: locomotor skills and ball skills. The TGMD-3 has been used in children with ASD aged 4 to 11 years. The TGMD-3 has been reported to have acceptable validity and reliability when measuring motor skills in ASD children. The TGMD-3 contains 3 to 5 criteria for each gross motor skill, which are integral to each other.
It was applied to the participants in the intervention groups twice, before and after 8 weeks.
Measured: 8 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted19 Nov 2025
- Study start1 Jan 2025
- Primary completion15 Sep 2025
- Study completion1 Oct 2025
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASDStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- The current study was a quasi-experimental study designed to determine the effectiveness of an 8-week PA intervention using two modes of delivery to improve PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. The quasi-experimental design is a frequently preferred research design, particularly in education research, where it is not possible to control all variables. A pre-test in the design helps determine the similarity of the groups before the intervention, while a post-test allows interpretation of the effects of the intervention on the participants.
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Bayburt University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Erkan Yarımkaya, Bayburt University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07236346
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- BU-SPBF-EY-01
- Status last verified
- Nov 2025
- First submitted
- 13 Nov 2025
- Last updated
- 19 Nov 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Since the study has not been published yet, I will fill in this section again when it is published.
Publications
1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 19 Nov 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effects of Parent-child Co-participation in Physical Activity on Physical Activity Levels and Motor Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Quasi-experimental Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07236346
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- BU-SPBF-EY-01
- Conditions
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD
- Keywords
- physical activity, parent, autism spectrum disorder, motor skills
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Bayburt UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 1 Jan 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 15 Sep 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Oct 2025 (actual)
- First posted
- 19 Nov 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Literature reviews and studies of physical activity (PA) interventions suggest that active parental involvement is an important component of supporting PA levels in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Parents have also viewed these interventions as a valuable source of social support and motivation for themselves and their children with ASD; however, parents have reported a lack of PA interventions specifically involving parental involvement to increase PA levels in their children.
To our knowledge, only a handful of PA studies in the literature have examined PA levels or fundamentals movement skills (FMS) in children with ASD and have included parental involvement. Overall, findings from previous studies have shown that PA interventions that include parental involvement successfully improve PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. Given the potential benefits and the increasing interest in family-based interventions, supporting parent-child co-participation in PA may be a possible strategy to promote PA among children and parents. To date, studies on parent-child co-participation in PA have mostly focused on improving PA levels and FMS in children with ASD using web-based interventions such as social media, websites, and online systems. Furthermore, with the exception of two studies, the focus of these studies was on PA levels and not FMS in children with ASD. Furthermore, not all previous studies have created PA groups with and without parental involvement to explore whether parent-child co-participation truly makes a difference. We addressed these limitations in the current study and used a design that included a parent-child PA group, a child PA group, and a control group to examine both PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of parent-child co-participation on PA levels and FMS in children with ASD.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 3
- Model description
- The current study was a quasi-experimental study designed to determine the effectiveness of an 8-week PA intervention using two modes of delivery to improve PA levels and FMS in children with ASD. The quasi-experimental design is a frequently preferred research design, particularly in education research, where it is not possible to control all variables. A pre-test in the design helps determine the similarity of the groups before the intervention, while a post-test allows interpretation of the effects of the intervention on the participants.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| parent-child group | Experimental | Behavioral: A parent-child co-participation in physical activityThis group included parental involvement. Parents and children engaged in PA together three days a week, each session lasting approximately one hour. |
| child group | Experimental | Behavioral: A parent-child co-participation in physical activityThis group did not include parental involvement. Only children with ASD engaged in PA three days a week, each session lasting approximately 1 hour. |
| control group | No intervention | –This group continued their normal routines and activities throughout the intervention. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 4 to 11 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- willingness to participate in the study,
- being the primary guardian of a child with ASD between,
- having an ASD diagnosis confirmed GARS-2-TV,
- being between the ages of four and eleven,
- being able to walk independently.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- those who do not attend at least one of the sessions of the training program,
- children with physical health problems (based on self-report and clinical diagnosis) will be excluded from the study.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| A parent-child co-participation in physical activityParents in PCG-A engaged in PA with their children three days a week. All parents attended the sessions and engaged in partner warm-ups, partner functional exercises, partner games, and partner cool-downs with their children. Children in CG-B engaged in PA with their peers three days a week without parental involvement, engaging in partner warm-ups, partner functional exercises, partner games, and partner cool-downs. Both intervention groups were compared with a control group. We instructed the control group to maintain their normal routines and activities throughout the intervention and asked them to participate in a pre-test and post-test. A demonstration strategy was used to teach the activities. We provided immediate feedback to encourage and support children with ASD and their parents. We also chatted with the children and parents at the end of each daily physical activity session to evaluate the effectiveness of the session and prepare them for the next session. | Behavioural | child group, parent-child group |
Primary outcome
The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ)
Time frame: 8 weeks
The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) was used to assess children's PA levels before and after the intervention. The LTEQ consists of three questions that seek information on the number of times children engage in mild, moderate, and strenuous intensity PA for at least 15 minutes in a typical week. It was applied to the participants in the intervention groups twice, before and after 8 weeks.
1 secondary outcome
The Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3)
Time frame: 8 weeks
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 19 Nov 2025.
- Background1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
- Personal web siteLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Since the study has not been published yet, I will fill in this section again when it is published.
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing A parent-child co-participation in physical activity in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, run by Bayburt University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 19 Nov 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
The Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ) (time frame: 8 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07236346, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 19 Nov 2025.