Research Projects

Inclusion Landscape and Barriers in Early Childhood Education

Principal Investigator: Allison Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D

This project is conducted in partnership with Includ(Ed), a nonprofit organization that aims to increase the quality and volume of inclusive preschool options available to San Diego children and their families. It involves reviewing the existing literature on inclusive private preschool and childcare services for children with disabilities, the regional landscape of these services, and conducting a pilot study examining stakeholder perspectives of the associated gaps and barriers to needed care. 

Please reach out if you would be interested in learning more once the study is active! 

Pilot Testing and Adaptation of the NDBI-FI for Group-Based Settings

Principal Investigator: Allison Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D

This study addresses the need for feasible and context relevant intervention fidelity tools for measuring implementation of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) in group-based settings. A particular advancement in the area of autism intervention research is the development and initial validation of fidelity measurement tools for common strategies comprising treatment under the umbrella of NDBIs (e.g., NDBI-FI; Frost et al., 2020). However, the NDBI-FI was developed to measure fidelity to intervention delivered by caregivers in a one-to-one context. It was not designed for nor has it been tested in group treatment delivery environments. Thus, this community-partnered study (collaborative with Alexa’s PLAYC of Rady Children’s Hospital) involves the adaptation of the NDBI-FI tool for use the group inclusion setting, evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted measure, and measurement of the preliminary psychometric properties when used in the group context.

Characterizing Parent Involvement in School-Based Behavioral Services

Principal Investigator: Allison Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D

This project addresses a gap in understanding how parents are involved in behaviorally-based treatment services, and the barriers to involvement, during the school-age years. There is recognition that parent involvement continues to be important as children progress through therapy—and that many autistic children are not identified until they are school age. However, little is known regarding parent involvement in community-based behavioral services for school-age children with ASD. This project aims to characterize parent involvement in usual care behavioral services for school-age autistic youth, and to identify caregiver, provider, and system level barriers/facilitators to applying these approaches. The results will inform the adaptation and testing of treatment models to fit within these contexts, as well as the testing of implementation strategies to improve community implementation. We are excited to be developing this project at this time, and we are not yet recruiting. 

Please reach out if you would be interested in learning more once the study is active! 

Stress and Mental Health in Parents of Autistic and Gender Diverse Adolescents

Principal Investigator: Kris Nelson, B.A.

This study aims to improve understanding of stress and mental health in parents of autistic and gender diverse adolescents and factors connected to parental stress and mental health. These findings have the potential to inform future work testing supports addressing the needs of this sub-population. We are recruiting parents of adolescents (aged 11-18). Children of participating parents may be autistic, gender diverse, both autistic and gender diverse, or neither. In this study, you will be asked to complete an online 30-45 minute survey that asks questions about your own mental health and use of social supports, along with questions about your adolescent’s quality of life and characteristics of autism.

*Currently Recruiting! Learn about Participating In This Study*

Characterizing Caregiver Engagement & Associated Culturally Related Factors

Principal Investigator: Veenavi Warnakulasooriya Fernando, B.A.

In this study, we are interested in improving understanding of caregiver engagement in behaviorally-based intervention services for children with autism and associated culturally-related factors. We hope that the findings of this study are to inform the development of  strategies to improve caregiver engagement and promote equitable access to effective early intervention services for autistic children from diverse backgrounds. We are recruiting primary caregivers of children under the age of 6 with a child diagnosed with autism who has been receiving behaviorally-based services for at least 6 months. In this study, you will be asked to complete an online 30-45 minute survey that asks questions about yourself, your child, and the services they receive.

*Currently Recruiting! Learn about Participating In This Study*

Team Effectiveness Factors in Implementation of Autism Evidence-Based Practices

Principal Investigator: Allison Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D

This study, funded by the NIMH (IN STEP Children’s Mental Health Center R03 Pilot Award), involves secondary coding and analyses of prior collected data to assess how team-level factors impact implementation of evidence-based practices in autism services within publicly funded mental health and school settings. This community-partnered project expands analyses of data collected from two statewide coordinated NIMH-funded clinical implementation trials (R01-MH111950 [Brookman-Frazee], R01-MH111981 [Stahmer]) testing implementation interventions for provider training in autism EBPs in publicly-funded MH and school settings. The primary aims include identifying team inputs and processes associated with implementation outcomes. The findings from this project will inform a larger-scale project developing and testing an EBP implementation team toolkit for school and youth mental health services. 

Stress and Mental Health in Parents of Autistic and Gender Diverse Adolescents

PI: Kris Nelson

We are recruiting parents of adolescents (ages 11-18) to participate in an online survey about mental health and stress!

Adolescents may be:

• autistic
• gender diverse
• both (autistic and gender diverse)
• neither (autistic nor gender diverse)

Interested participants are invited to fill out a brief (5 min.) survey to determine eligibility to participate in a 30-45 min. survey regarding stress and mental health.

Eligible participants who complete the survey will receive a $15 Amazon electronic gift card. 

If you have any questions, please contact Kris Nelson or sparcclab@csusm.edu.  This research has been approved by California State University IRB. 

Survey Link

Caregiver Engagement in Behaviorally-Based Autism Services

PI: Veena W Fernando

We are studying caregiver engagement in behavioral services (ABA) for children with autism.

You can participate if you are a primary caregiver of a child:

Under the age of 6
With a diagnosis of autism
Who has been receiving behaviorally-based services for at least 6 months.
Interested caregivers are invited to fill out a brief survey to determine eligibility to participate in a 30-40 min survey.

Eligible participants who complete the survey will receive a $15 Amazon electronic gift card.

If you have any questions, please contact Veena W Fernando or sparcclab@csusm.edu. This research has been approved by IRB of California State University of San Marcos.

Eligibility Survey Link

Operationalizing Team-Level Factors in the Implementation of Autism Evidence-Based Practices

Anastasia Navarro, Elizabeth Keck, Aubyn C. Stahmer, Ph.D., Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D., Allison Jobin, Ph.D.

Systematic Review of Measurement Tools Used to Evaluate Inclusive Early Childhood Education Programs for Children with Autism

Jordan Albright, Ph.D., Veenavi Warnakulasooriya, B.S., Melanie Pellecchia, Ph.D., Leann DaWalt, Ph.D., Lindee Morgan, Ph.D., Allison Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D