Physical Exercise to Reduce Anxiety in Underserved Children With ASD

Anxiety is one of the most frequent comorbidities in children with ASD leading to poor clinical outcomes. Physical exercise has been shown to be a promising and easy to implement intervention for reducing anxiety. However, little is known about the feasibility and efficacy of physical exercise to reduce anxiety in children with ASD from underserved, low-income families. Children with ASD, ages 6 - 12 years old from low-income and Latino families will be recruited for the study and assigned to an exercise intervention group and a sedentary control group. The physical exercise program is an eight-week program, administered three times per week in small groups. Compliance, parent-rated anxiety, and salivary cortisol will be measured before and after completion of the exercise and control group interventions.