A Preliminary Study of Mobile-Based CBT for Anger Management in Individuals With ASD Without Intellectual Disability

This study examined the preliminary efficacy of HARU ASD, a mobile-based cognitive behavioral therapy program (mCBT), for anger management in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability. Thirty participants (intervention group n = 16, waitlist control group n = 14) and twenty-five caregivers (intervention group n = 14, waitlist control group n = 11) were included in the final analysis. Self-report, caregiver-proxy questionnaires (9 subscales each), and direct behavioral observations (5 domains) were administered before and after the intervention. After Holm-Bonferroni correction, only the caregiver-proxy reported direct anger-out remained significant, suggesting reduced direct verbal and behavioral anger expression in the intervention group. These findings suggest the limited effectiveness of the HARU ASD for managing anger among individuals with ASD without ID, although larger trials with prespecified primary outcomes are needed.Clinical trial registration: CRIS (https://cris.nih.go.kr), KCT0009760.