The Incredible Years® "Helping Preschool Children with Autism" (IY-HPCA) program is designed for teachers of children aged 2 to 5 years who have students with autism in their classrooms. The program provides tools to support children with autism. The primary aim of this pilot study is to examine the feasibility of implementing the IY-HPCA intervention among teachers of preschool children (typically aged 2 to 5 years) working in mainstream schools. Specifically, the study aims to assess teachers' engagement, acceptability, and satisfaction with the program. Secondarily, it aims to gather preliminary evidence on the program's effectiveness in improving teachers' use of strategies, teacher self-efficacy, and in reducing burnout. An exploratory randomized controlled pilot trial will be conducted. Approximately 40 teachers will be recruited, and they will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group. The intervention consists of six weekly sessions lasting 3 hours each, delivered by clinical psychologists and child psychiatrists specialized in developmental disorders at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, in Barcelona. Two intervention face-to-face groups will be conducted at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu. Feasibility outcomes include program attendance, acceptability, and satisfaction (assessed using the Incredible Years Teacher Workshop Evaluations and the Teacher Satisfaction Questionnaire), as well as fidelity to the intervention delivery (measured with the Leader Checklist). After the intervention, individual interviews with teachers and group leaders will qualitatively assess satisfaction and experiences with the program. Secondary (effectiveness) outcomes include teachers' use of strategies (Teacher Strategies Questionnaire for Children with Autism), self-efficacy (Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale), and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey). This study will provide pioneering insights into the implementation of this program within the public mental health and education systems in Spain. This will allow the potential implementation of a wider randomized controlled trial in the future at a larger scale.
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Percentage of teachers engaging with and finishing the program
Timeframe: Attendance sheet completed weekly throughout the intervention (6 weeks total)
Compliance and satisfaction throughout the study (Incredible Years Teacher Weekly Evaluations)
Timeframe: Questionnaire administered to the intervention group weekly throughout the intervention (6 weeks total)
Teachers' acceptability and satisfaction with the program (evaluated with the Final Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire)
Timeframe: Administered to the intervention group at intervention completion (approximately 6 weeks after baseline)
Teachers' overall experiences with the program (evaluated with individual interviews)
Timeframe: Interviews to the participants of the intervention group at intervention completion (approximately 6 weeks after baseline)
Group leaders' fidelity with the program (evaluated with the Leader Checklist)
Timeframe: Leader Checklist completed weekly throughout the intervention (6 weeks total)
Clinicians' experiences with the intervention delivered (evaluated with individual interviews)
Timeframe: Interviews to clinicians at intervention completion (approximately 6 weeks after baseline)