Anxiety Management for Young Children with Autism
Official title: Anxiety in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Funded at Massachusetts General Hospital · NIH-11471997 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study at a major hospital will test a medication called buspirone in young children with autism to see if it helps reduce anxiety.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 7, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $245,711 |
| NIH project number | 4R00MH135180-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11471997 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children aged 0-11 with autism spectrum disorder and clinically significant anxiety.
✕Less likely to help
Results may not benefit youth whose anxiety is unrelated to ASD or who do not tolerate buspirone.
What this research studies
This project aims to understand anxiety in kids with autism and to test if buspirone can ease their anxiety symptoms. It will look for measurable bodily signals, like autonomic nervous system changes, that relate to anxiety in children with ASD. The researchers will run a randomized trial to compare buspirone to a placebo and explore whether changes in bodily signals explain any treatment effects. The work is designed to be highly rigorous, using high-quality clinical endpoints and objective biomarkers. If successful, it could inform better, safer options for managing anxiety in young children with ASD.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If Buspirone proves effective, children with ASD and anxiety could have a new, tolerable treatment option.
How similar studies have gone: Previous ASD anxiety research has been limited; this trial aims to advance evidence with a rigorously designed, larger study.
Where this research is happening
-
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Thom, Robyn P. — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Thom, Robyn P.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Autism and Anxiety in Teens: Using Heart Signals to Understand Feelings
A physician-researcher at a university is studying whether autonomic signals like heart rate can serve as a simple clue to anxiety in autistic teens.
-
Understanding how anxiety and ADHD affect autism spectrum disorder
This study is looking at how conditions like anxiety and ADHD affect children with autism, so we can better understand their needs and improve how we diagnose and treat them.
-
Understanding anxiety in adolescents with autism through body responses
This study is looking at how the body's natural responses can help us understand anxiety in teenagers with autism, and it aims to find patterns that show how anxiety levels change in different situations and among different backgrounds.
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Understanding and treating anxiety in children with autism
This study is looking at how anxiety affects kids with autism and is testing a medication called buspirone to see if it can help reduce their anxiety symptoms, all while trying to understand how their bodies respond to treatment.
-
Understanding brain signals in autism to identify biologically distinct subtypes
This study uses EEG to link how the brain processes sensory information with behavior in young children with autism and related concerns.
-
Paternal exposures and sperm epigenetics linked to autism in children
This project looks at how a father's environment and health before conception might influence autism risk in his children.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.