Effects of a combined neuropsychological and cognitive behavioral group therapy on young adults with Fragile X Syndrome: An explorative study.
A neuro-CBT group therapy delivered for one year improved mood, social skills and daily living in young adults with Fragile X Syndrome.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Montanaro et al. (2024) ran a year-long group program for young adults with Fragile X Syndrome and intellectual disability. The therapy mixed brain-training games with classic CBT skills like spotting negative thoughts.
Each week the same small group met. They practiced relaxation, role-played social scenes, and did memory exercises. Parents joined separate sessions to learn how to coach skills at home.
What they found
After twelve months, anxiety and depression scores dropped. Parents also reported better conversation skills and daily living habits. Family stress went down too.
The gains held with no extra booster sessions. No one dropped out, showing the format felt safe and doable.
How this fits with other research
Laugeson et al. (2014) got similar mood results using plain group CBT with autistic young adults. Maria added neuropsych games and still saw the same benefit, so the extra pieces may help Fragile X specifically.
Howlin et al. (2006) and Doughty et al. (2015) already showed group CBT or mindfulness cuts depression in adults with ID. Maria’s work extends those findings to the Fragile X slice of the ID population.
Lemons et al. (2015) warned that only 31 tiny studies exist for FXS. This paper answers their call by adding a full-year trial with positive outcomes, strengthening the thin evidence base.
Why it matters
You now have a ready-made year-long curriculum that blends CBT with cognitive drills. Use it to build a weekly group for adults with FXS. Start with one cohort, track mood and adaptive living each quarter, and train parents in parallel. The low dropout rate suggests families will stick around.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is an X-linked neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to intellectual disability (ID) along with cognitive-behavioral difficulties. Research on psychosocial treatments in individuals FXS and ID is still lacking. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a combined neuropsychological and cognitive behavioral group therapy (nCBT) among young adults with FXS. METHOD: Ten young adults diagnosed with FXS took part in the second stage intervention of "Corp-osa-Mente" (CoM II), a group nCBT program previously outlined by Montanaro and colleagues in an earlier study, with the participants being the same as in the previous research. This report details the outcomes of an additional twelve-month group sections aimed at enhancing the ability to manage emotions and the socio-communicative skills of these young adults. Caregivers completed measures of adaptive functioning, emotional and behavior problems, executive function, communication skills and family quality of life at pre-treatment (T0) and post-treatment (T1). RESULTS: CoM II showed a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms from T0 to T1, along with increased socio-pragmatic and communication skills from pre-test to post-test intervention. Additionally, our analysis revealed improvements in the adapative behavior of participants and in the family quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest that young adults with FXS and ID experienced positive outcomes through participation in CoM II, a group nCBT. However, it is recommended to undertake additional methodologically rigorous studies, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), to substantiate these initially promising findings.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2024 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104839