Lack thereof. Additional research is warranted including the potential of combining JASPER and PEI, or the testing of therapist plus parent interventions for effects on the well being of parents. Future studies will also want to compare interventions that control for the amount of supervised parent-child play in order to isolate differences related to type of directed parent support. The current study is both consistent and inconsistent with previous parent-mediated interventions with young children with ASD. While it is one of the larger parent-mediated interventions for children with autism, a few others are notable. Rogers et al. (2012) compared a parent-mediated version of the Early Start Denver Model to treatment-as-usual for 98 parents and toddlers (15 to 24 months old) with 12 hours of treatment over 3 months. No differences were observed on parent or child outcomes, but it warrants noting that the children in the Rogers study were 12 months younger on average than the children in the current study. However in a similar age range (16 to 20 months), Wetherby et al (2014) noted significant improvement in social communication and receptive language scores for children who received parent coaching versus parent education over nine months. Thus dose and length of intervention may be significant factors in increasing outcomes for children less than two years. However, neither study controlled experimenter contact between conditions or provided follow up data; thus differences due to dose or maintenance of gains are unknown. Green et al. (2010) compared a parent-mediated intervention, PACT, to treatment-as-usual for 150 parents and preschoolers with autism who were on average 13 months older than the children in the current study. This one-year-long study, delivering about 18 hours of intervention, resulted in significantly greater parent responsiveness and child initiations of social communication for participants in the PACT group as compared to community controls. The data in the current study are consistent with the PACT trial for parent child outcomes, as well as with studies demonstrating greater gains from parent coaching models over parent education ones (Kasari et al, 2014; Wetherby et al, 2014). A notable strength of the current study is the comparison between two active, evidence-based, parent-mediated interventions. JASPER is an empirically-validated, targeted, and modular treatment for young children with ASD with significant treatment effects noted when tested against treatment-as-usual control groups using expert therapists (Goods et al., 2012; Kasari et al., 2006, 2008), teacher-delivered interventions (Kaale et al., 2012; Lawton Kasari, 2012; Wong, 2013), and parent-mediated interventions (Kasari et al., 2010; Kasari et al, 2014). The current study LY317615 supplier highlights the effects of JASPER when compared to an active comparator, PEI, that has also been empirically -validated (Brereton Tonge, 2006). Another notableJ Consult Clin Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 June 01.Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptKasari et al.Pagestrength of the current study is the ability to isolate the contribution of the experimental treatments against other treatments the participants were receiving. Most studies of parentimplemented interventions vary on dose of intervention between experimental and comparison conditions. While commonly tracking other BAY 11-7085MedChemExpress BAY 11-7083 services by parent report, it is difficult.Lack thereof. Additional research is warranted including the potential of combining JASPER and PEI, or the testing of therapist plus parent interventions for effects on the well being of parents. Future studies will also want to compare interventions that control for the amount of supervised parent-child play in order to isolate differences related to type of directed parent support. The current study is both consistent and inconsistent with previous parent-mediated interventions with young children with ASD. While it is one of the larger parent-mediated interventions for children with autism, a few others are notable. Rogers et al. (2012) compared a parent-mediated version of the Early Start Denver Model to treatment-as-usual for 98 parents and toddlers (15 to 24 months old) with 12 hours of treatment over 3 months. No differences were observed on parent or child outcomes, but it warrants noting that the children in the Rogers study were 12 months younger on average than the children in the current study. However in a similar age range (16 to 20 months), Wetherby et al (2014) noted significant improvement in social communication and receptive language scores for children who received parent coaching versus parent education over nine months. Thus dose and length of intervention may be significant factors in increasing outcomes for children less than two years. However, neither study controlled experimenter contact between conditions or provided follow up data; thus differences due to dose or maintenance of gains are unknown. Green et al. (2010) compared a parent-mediated intervention, PACT, to treatment-as-usual for 150 parents and preschoolers with autism who were on average 13 months older than the children in the current study. This one-year-long study, delivering about 18 hours of intervention, resulted in significantly greater parent responsiveness and child initiations of social communication for participants in the PACT group as compared to community controls. The data in the current study are consistent with the PACT trial for parent child outcomes, as well as with studies demonstrating greater gains from parent coaching models over parent education ones (Kasari et al, 2014; Wetherby et al, 2014). A notable strength of the current study is the comparison between two active, evidence-based, parent-mediated interventions. JASPER is an empirically-validated, targeted, and modular treatment for young children with ASD with significant treatment effects noted when tested against treatment-as-usual control groups using expert therapists (Goods et al., 2012; Kasari et al., 2006, 2008), teacher-delivered interventions (Kaale et al., 2012; Lawton Kasari, 2012; Wong, 2013), and parent-mediated interventions (Kasari et al., 2010; Kasari et al, 2014). The current study highlights the effects of JASPER when compared to an active comparator, PEI, that has also been empirically -validated (Brereton Tonge, 2006). Another notableJ Consult Clin Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 June 01.Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptKasari et al.Pagestrength of the current study is the ability to isolate the contribution of the experimental treatments against other treatments the participants were receiving. Most studies of parentimplemented interventions vary on dose of intervention between experimental and comparison conditions. While commonly tracking other services by parent report, it is difficult.